


Summoner of death

by The_pen_or_the_sword



Category: Overlord - Maruyama Kugane & Related Fandoms, ゼロの使い魔 | Zero no Tsukaima | The Familiar of Zero
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-05
Updated: 2019-09-06
Packaged: 2020-02-25 23:55:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 34,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18712294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_pen_or_the_sword/pseuds/The_pen_or_the_sword
Summary: Louise wanted to summon something grand what is grander than a supreme being?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Author note: Not much to say saw overlord thought this could make a fun one prologue. Notice any mistakes let me know.

**Summoner of Death  
**

The flames of jealousy quickly turned to nerves as Louise watched Tabitha, a quiet girl with blue hair and a slender frame bring forth a gorgeous blue dragon with a large breeze. The dragon was on the small side for dragons, with its smooth blue coat of scales it struck an imposing figure. How was she supposed to follow that up?

None of the other summons were overly impressive at least compared to Tabitha's dragon, Louise had resigned herself to hide behind the rest of the students and attempt the ritual later hopefully without the mocking eyes of her peers shooting into her back. Of course, all grand plans go awry…

"Mr. Colbert Louise hasn't gone yet," Kirche shouted as the teacher began preparing the students to leave. Louise felt her face burn as Colbert's kind eyes gazed upon her, without saying a word Louise stepped before the circle. For just a moment she could almost see something like an apology in the professor's kind eyes. Shaking herself from her thoughts she took a deep breath, closing her eyes as she prepared to call forth her familiar

"My name is Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Vallière. Pentagon of the five elemental power, Heed my summoning... and bring forth...my familiar!" Louise cried to the sky as a large blast emanated from the center of the circle, knocking her from her feet.

A plume of smoke rose from the center of the circle. Louise felt tears forming in her eyes even as her classmates attempted to suppress there mocking laughter.

"Wow, your Zero percent success rate remains unbroken...how shocking!" Kirche mocked. Spurred by this the rest of the students burst into laughter, Louise allowed her tears to fall.

"Quiet!" Colbert shouted, causing all the students to halt their laughter and interrupting Louise quiet sobs. As one the students turned to see what Colbert was staring at, in the center of the summoning circle something was emerging from the smoke.

In a word it was large, standing at over seven feet tall. Its shape was humanoid appearing to be garbed in some kind of robe. The figure made a motion with its hand clearing the dust from the air, and standing at the center of the circle stood…Death.

The avatar of death appeared skeletal its head strangely shaped. Long bony fingers, were covered by pure white gloves. In the pitch, black pits of its eyes sat two flaming red Pinpricks of light. It wore a glorious robe of pure white, golden chains draped across its neck. Its eyes seemed to sweep across the students

All was silent and Louise could make out Colbert gripping his wand out of the corner of her eye. She stood up slowly, wondering if she should try to complete the ritual. The being appeared docile at the moment but her instincts screamed that to walk towards the creature before her was to walk into the embrace of death.

The silent standoff may well have lasted an eternity if not for the creature growing sick of waiting.

"Greetings, I am Ainz Ooal Gown the sorcerer-king. Is there a reason you have brought me here?" The skeleton apparently known as Ainz spoke with regality and poise that befitted a member of nobility, which was all the more shocking considering its appearance. Louise felt herself gulp, the undead were the things of fairy tales. Terrible monster meant to scare children from going out at night, yet before who stood an undead, claiming to be royalty.

"I am Jean Colbert, a teacher of the Tristain Academy of magic, the finest magical academy in the country. One of my students was attempting to summon a familiar when you appeared." As Colbert spoke Louise couldn't help but notice the odd timbre of his voice if one hadn't listened intently to the professor when he spoke they may have missed it. Louise's obsession with self-improvement had led to her pouring over his every word, she knew his voice. Which is why she could identify the tone he had taken, her professor who remained calm even before her most violent blunders was afraid.

"Well, I hope you're aware I have no intention of being a familiar to anyone. Will this be a problem?" Ainz spoke, ice crawled down the spines of those gathered.

"Of course not your majesty! This is simply a misunderstanding. I apologize for the inconvenience, one of our students simply made a mistake." Colbert explained with a bow, giving the creature all the respect one would show true royalty. Louise felt herself gape, in part outraged at being denied her familiar, but even more shocked at the professor agreeing with the creature.

Jean Colbert was a complex man, once hailed as the flame serpent he had walked through the fires of war and emerged stronger for them. He had freed himself of his fear of death long ago, many who knew the Colbert of the past would be baffled by his current submissive actions. Those people failed to realize the nature of the man of Jean Colbert.

He had seen innocents butchered and butchered innocents in turn, such is the nature of war. He lost himself in those years, yet after leaving the military to focus on magical studies and teaching he had found himself again. No longer a man who destroyed the futures of others but instead encouraged growth and independent thought. He had turned from the path of battle and found purpose in the arts of a scholar. Most importantly though, he found himself caring deeply for the health and well being of his students.

Thus he was paralyzed with inaction, for the instincts that had saved him countless times in the past screamed that death stood before him. That not only would it claim his life should he insult it but the lives of every student in his immediate vicinity. The creature called itself a king, yet its movements were more reminiscent of a tyrant, assured of its absolute power.

Tabitha was pushing upon her dragons head, despite that it was clear the beast was terrified. With a mighty roar, the beast shoved its master to the side charging at the skeletal king. Tabitha shouted for the beast to stop, but it was too late.

Tabitha had always been logical, she knew just how easily false judgments and assumptions could unmake even the greatest of men. Looking at it logically her dragon shouldn't be in much danger, the skeleton seemed rather sedate and while it was large compared to humans it was still smaller than her dragon.

Dragons were some of the most powerful creatures in the world, her dragon would be fine. Those words repeated themselves over and over in her head, but Tabitha could feel something in the depths of her soul. Despite what logic may dictate, her dragon was charging towards its death…

As the beast approached the specter it reared up, creating a large gust of wind with its wings and magic. No doubt intending to toss the skeletal figure back but as the gust hit it...Nothing happened, the powerful gust of wind that knocked several students from their feet failed to budge the specter of death. The dragon persisted in its attempts to push the skeleton back with its wind-based attack but the figure simply seemed amused by the dragon's efforts. For a moment Louise could swear she saw the phantom of a smile upon the beings skeletal face.

"A wind-based dragon? How interesting! I haven't encountered one of your kind before…I wonder what materials I'll get from your corpse?" Ainz spoke with casual ease as he walked through the gale towards the dragon.

The fear in the beast eyes seemed to increase as Ainz approached it. The beast abandoned its wind-based attack to bite Ainz encroaching hand. The beast jaws were caught by the hand it hoped to crush and was forced closed. The beast struggled against Ainz steely grip and despite logic dictating the dragon should break the skeletal hand, that was not the case. The dragon whined and struggled but could not break free, the grip surpassed the strength of beasts jaws.

Tabitha ran forth and did something that shocked Louise, she dropped to her knees before the sorcerer-king. "Please spare her! She didn't mean it…" She begged for the life of her newly acquired familiar.

"The beast attacked me and would have killed me if it had the strength, why should I spare it the fate it wished to lay upon me?" Ainz peered down at Tabitha seeming to sneer.

"She's rare, and she's young, she doesn't know any better," Tabitha explained on her knees, Louise felt this must have been the most the blue-haired girl had talked in the entire year. Ainz eyes seemed to burst with light before a chuckle escaped his nonexistent lips. All the while the dragon continued to struggle in his steely grasp.

"Rare you say? Hmmm, it would be a shame to kill it then. Ensure it never attempts to disrespect my grand personage again and I shall be lenient this once. Fail to keep it in check and the beast life will be forfeit." Ainz pronounced with the absolute authority of a true ruler.

Tabitha rose from her knees bowing submissively as she attempted to lead the dragon back to the crowd of students. "So you hail from an academy of magic? Are you perhaps in contact with the Baharuth empire?" Ainz asked interest coloring his tone.

"No, I have never heard of such a place," Jean announced calmly. The crowd of students had formed a line behind him.

"Truly? How unfortunate, I must have been transported rather far than…." Ainz sighed as he lifted his hand in a majestic motion. A sphere of pure obsidian appeared before him, causing many of the students to grip their wands more tightly, yet the orb seemed dull and lifeless.

"Very far indeed…" Ainz mumbled under his breath, seemingly disappointed by the sphere as it disappeared before him. He turned back to face the gathered students and teacher.

"I have need of a map and other supplies, surely the greatest magical academy in the country can provide such things to a foreign Ruler they've inadvertently captured?" Ainz spoke a mocking edge to his voice.

"Of course! We shall also inform the queen of your arrival right away! If you'll follow me I can take you to speak with the headmaster…." Colbert felt sweat beading down his face as he explained. He didn't wish to bring the specter through the school but felt to confront it here would be to damn them all…

He would have to send a message to the queen informing her of the being that claimed to be a king and the danger it posed. Killing it was outside his abilities if they could get rid of it without slaying it that would be best. Failing that they'd need a team of the finest mages in the country to crush this threat before it began to spread havoc. Hopefully, it was more benevolent than its appearance let on.

Thus a simmering yet scared Louise, a "burningly" curious Kirche, and a stoic Tabitha accompanied the rest of the students back to the school, the shadow of death following close behind them.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All right, you vultures you want another! You get another! I didn't want to but here you go! No promises about more, though if this support continues you may wear me down yet again... All right my lack luster protest aside, thanks for the support guys and here we go

Not for the first time, Ainz was incredibly grateful for his emotional suppression without it he would have surely collapsed to his knees in panic. He had miscalculated, yet again he found himself transported to another world. Unable to travel back using {Gate}. Was this it? Had all his efforts been for nothing? Had the kingdom and guild he had worked so hard to protect all for not? Perhaps this was simply his fate, to be cruelly yanked from world to world.

As his thoughts reached a crescendo his emotional suppression kicked in. Looking at it with a clear mind Ainz acknowledged that his coming to this world seemed different to his arrival in New World. Unlike his original transportation to New World, he had seen a flash of green before he arrived here. It also seemed his summoning was a direct result of a ritual, far more precise than whatever force had dragged the guild to New World. While he couldn't use {Gate} to directly return to his kingdom, the residents of this world clearly had the means to bring him here, so all he had to do was figure out how to do the same in reverse.

Even as he thought that he knew it wouldn't be so simple, summoning creatures was a simple matter but returning them from whence they came could only be accomplished by either killing the summoned creature, killing the summoner, or dispelling the magic holding them to this realm. Considering the fact he didn't sense any statuses being applied to himself it didn't seem he was being actively held here.

Perhaps killing the one that summoned him would work? Then again he'd best keep that in reserve until negotiations broke down. Worst case scenario he could place all his items into his inventory, kill himself, and hope Demiurge's ritual to resurrect him would work. Saying that it would be his absolute last resort as he hadn't performed any test on his own ability to revive, leaving such a thing up to chance would be the height of foolishness.

Thinking about it logically he had three objectives:

One, find a way to return to New World and his precious children. Preferably before his children realized his disappearance hadn't been part of the plan to fake his death.

Two, gather information about this new world and the magic within.

Three, don't bring disgrace to the Sorcerous Kingdom and the name of Ainz Ooal Gown.

It shouldn't be that difficult right? He just had to act in his full capacity as the sorcerer-king and keep up the act without anyone seeing through it. Ainz couldn't help but sigh internally, as a large sweat drop forming on the back of his head.

He was pulled from his reverie as he heard a door being opened, he had followed Colbert to the headmaster's office leaving the rest of the teenage students outside. Though he was perplexed why the young girl with pink hair had followed them, she seemed far too young to be of any impact.

Beyond the door was a decently sized room, occupying one end of the room was a large window. In front of it sat a large wooden desk, no doubt made of high-quality wood. Cabinets lined several of the walls, the floor was a carpet of dark blue, in front of the desk was a single chair. This chair looked incredibly expensive, dark blue fabric meant to cushion the back of whoever sat upon it. Judging by the discoloration of the carpet it had only recently been brought to this room.

Behind the desk sat an elderly man, robed in pure black. Strangely sitting upon his shoulder was a white mouse, the man's hair and beard mirrored the color of the mouse's fur. His eyes bore a deep grey coloration, full of timeless wisdom and energy. His smile seemed incredibly forced...

Ainz stepped through the door first, forcing confidence into his every step. Meeting the headmaster's cold gaze and false smile with his own crimson gaze. "Greetings lord Gown, please have a seat." The headmaster nodded towards the Chair.

Ainz couldn't help but grimace, the chair was of fine quality yet it was clearly meant for someone of smaller stature than himself. The thought occurred this was the perfect time to test the resident's of this world, perhaps they weren't familiar with tiered Magic? As with many things it would be better not to show his own ignorance by asking.

Thus when Ainz approached the chair instead of sitting he moved it aside, he could feel the eyes of all those present upon him. Ignoring them he held out his hand {Create greater magic item} as the words finished a large chair of obsidian radiance formed before him. He decided to be slightly creative, adding accents such as spikes to the side of the high back chair. The gasps he heard were all the sign he needed to know these people were at the very least impressed with what he'd done.

Using motions he had practiced countless times he sat upon his makeshift throne. He couldn't help the swell of pride he felt as they stared in awe at his regal movements. He should consider giving Jircniv a present for helping him perfect his sorcerer king act, albeit unknowingly. Still what to get the bloody emperor? Perhaps a ring of sustenance? No, a bottle of orange juice? Jircniv seemed quite taken with it when they served it? Perhaps a robe with the embroidery of the Sorcerous Kingdom? Yeah, that would show the world the emperors loyalty and he could have it infused with a low level enchant.

"Lord Gown, I would first like to apologize for the inconvenience my students caused you in this...Unfortunate incident" The headmaster's voice broke Ainz from his musings. Ainz pondered for a moment, how would Jivchne react in this situation? Even more, how would the sorcerer-king act in such a precarious situation?

"I see, so in your country kidnapping a foreign king, is considered a simple...Incident." Ainz forced an indignant tone into his voice. Though he posed it as if he found the idea ridiculous it was a legitimate inquiry, perhaps in this strange world magic randomly pulled kings from there homes all the time. He doubted it but it was still best to test, rather than be blindsided later.

Considering the forced nature of the smile on the headmasters face that didn't seem to be the case. "Let me be clear here headmaster, I have been ripped from my kingdom if I don't find a means to return soon it could very well lead to war. I require your aid, should you provide it I to shall look on this as no more than a simple 'Incident'." Ainz explained as he steepled his fingers. Praying internally his speech came across intimidating enough to not make him look like an idiot.

"Ahem, of course, your majesty! What can the Tristain Academy of magic do to...Exonerate its self for this inconvenience." The headmaster gulped as he stared back into the burning red eyes of death.

Siesta had always been clever, ask any one of her family members to describe her and they would give a multitude of descriptors. Kind, caring, loving, innocent, naive, a romantic, all of these and many more. Yet they would most likely not call her clever, this wasn't due to cruelty or ignorance but rather a byproduct of how her clever nature manifested.

Siesta was clever in the ways of nobles, how to appear meek and broken before them to not earn their discontent. Of course, many peasants developed the skills to deal with nobles for the few interactions that were required. The difference was Siesta was especially good at avoiding the notice of nobles all together, slipping under there radar as beneath them.

Siesta knew just how broken and meek to appear so as to not earn their interest. In contrast, she knew how to tamper it down enough they didn't feel the need to replace her. She had mastered the balancing act of keeping her mind sound in a world where a single misstep could lead to a noble demanding her head, or worse her body.

She was intimately familiar with crushing her own desires to avoid suspicion, overall she was quite pleased with her job at the academy. The nobles were young enough that most wouldn't be interested in pursuing her body with the multitude of other nobles around to court. Everything had long since fallen into a rhythm, one that was sadly shattered one early morning when all the school staff were forced to gather before the headmaster himself in the dining hall.

The hall was ordered into groups depending on their jobs, from maids to cooks, even teachers, and secretarial staff. Standing beside her fellow maid's Siesta couldn't help but scratch her head, they had never been summoned together like this. To force the commoner and noble staff to hear the same proclamation was unprecedented.

This was made all the more bizarre due to the fact anything the service staff needed to know could simply be told to the head cook or the head maid. Whatever information the headmaster could not afford to wait, so what had happened that required such immediate attention?

She speculated this had something to do with the nobles bizarre behavior the other day. The students had returned from the annual summoning ritual in a strange mood, seeming almost cowed. She practically cheered at the clear looks of discomfort the usually snobbish nobles wore.

So what could possibly have happened to force the headmaster to gather the entirety of the school staff in this one room? The room was abuzz with whispered chatter and restrained energy. At the sound of clapping the room fell into silence as all attention was drawn to the headmaster.

"Ladies and gentleman, may I first say how honored I am to see so many of our wonderful staff gathered together on this day. Recently we had the good fortune of a foreign king coming to meet with the queen. On his way, he was waylaid by a magical occurrence and wishes to remain here to study the phenomenon, after sending correspondence to the queen we have been granted the honor of hosting our foreign majesty until she can arrive." The headmaster explained his voice echoing through the silent hall.

There was slight discontent from the nobles and commoners alike, how dare a foreigner snub their royalty. Yet none would dare speak out against such a thing, it would be foolhardy to draw the anger of a foreign Nation, especially if the queen had no problems with his stay here. The headmaster raised his hand to draw attention back to him.

"This is a grand opportunity to show off our fine magical education system and the grandeur of our nobility. We must not give offense! If he has questions answer them to the best of your abilities. Now there is something you must all be made aware of, the foreign noble's appearance is incredibly strange. We all must be careful to not draw attention to this and give offense. Teachers, I hope you can help in ensuring your students understand their behavior and actions could very well affect future relations between Tristian and the foreign kingdom." The headmaster continued his speech receiving several nods from the assembled teachers.

Siesta felt her own troublesome curiosity building within her, what could be so strange about the king's features they felt the need to warn the entire staff. Part of her couldn't help but wonder if the king was like some of the children she knew in her village. The ones born with a club foot, or misshapen faces. The ones that nobles took particular joy in tormenting. It seemed impossible but she also couldn't think of another explanation to have such a serious warning about his appearance.

For the first time ever she felt some sympathy for a noble, she could only imagine the difficulty a deformed noble would go through, let alone a king. To be in such a high position and deformed would be torment. Nobles would constantly whisper unpleasant things about his appearance, the weakness his blood would bring. Her inner musings were interrupted as the headmaster resumed his speech.

"Ahem we will need special assistant from the maid staff, you will all be on daily rotation as his temporary personal aids. Remember you'll be serving under a king, treat this assignment with dignity and grace." The headmaster gave them their task, before dismissing the service staff from the hall. He kept the teachers to talk them through how to explain this to there students.

The maids all returned to their quarters, after which the head maid returned with a blank sheet of paper, quill in hand.

"We're going by alphabetical order, a different maid will serve him every day. Unless anyone would like to volunteer to go first?" The head maid asked as she looked around at the mix of scared faces, it was a terrifying prospect to serve under an unknown noble. Serving a noble could have many connotations, and it would be up to whoever went to serve him first to report back what the foreign king considered service. At least they weren't liable to die as killing another countries people, regardless of their status was not considered acceptable. Everything other than that, however... Better left unsaid.

Siesta saw a girl crying near the front of the room, her last name started with an A and it seemed she had realized she would be the first servant. It was a shock for everyone present Siesta included when she raised her hand.

There was a good reason her family wouldn't describe Siesta as clever, this was because her cleverness was dwarfed by her curiosity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm now interested in getting a coauthor to help me through this as I lack experience with familiar of zero. Let me know if any of you are interested otherwise read, review, enjoy!


	3. Big day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone said longer...So here you go Enjoy!

Siesta felt semi-confident as she marched out from the maid quarters in the wee hours of the morning. She had spent a majority of the night imagining every bizarre appearance she could, at this point she was absolutely sure no matter how odd the foreign king looked she would be able to hide her shock. The king had been given one of the rooms reserved for the highest of nobles, in a wing of the school reserved for royal visits.

Siesta had been to this wing a few times during her stay at the school, while the royal family usually brought their own servants to maintain and guard the rooms during their stay, the rest of the year the school servants had to maintain the wing. Usually, the task was given to two or three maids every couple of weeks, the names of all those who worked within the wing were written down along with on what day to ensure the cleaning staff didn't attempt to steal the expensive tapestry or art. The rest of the time the wing was locked behind a magical door, only the teaching staff and the head maid had a key.

Siesta thought it was rather silly, only a moron would attempt to steal from the nobility in such a blatant fashion. The paintings and tapestry were no doubt expensive but easily located. The nobles were liable to hang the entire family of the thief to send a message. All the same, she approached the large oaken door, stopping in her tracks as another woman clad in a maid uniform approached.

The woman appeared to be in her early thirties, with pale alabaster skin, orange hair, and cold blue eyes. The woman's eyes eerily reminded Siesta of ice, not the solid blue ice that her father taught her could hold her weight, no instead they reminded her of the thin white ice. Just like that thin ice Siesta felt if she stared too long at those eyes she would be swallowed whole by the freezing depths below.

Siesta forced a smile on her face as she turned to face the women, apparently, she was part of Osmund's personal staff. He had insisted on having one of his personal servants help with catering to the foreign king. Something about his statement didn't sit right with siesta though, she had overheard a chunk of conversation between the headmaster and another teacher while cleaning. Siesta hadn't meant to listen in but as she was cleaning a classroom she couldn't help but overhear the conversation in the back room.

_"...So how many servants do you hire, old friend?" A male voice questioned laughter clear in his voice._

_" Servants are for the young and rich. I'm too old to bother with such troublesome matters, I hire some groundskeepers for my estate but that's all. Servants, wealth, status, power struggles...I'm well past the years where such things hold sway over me." The answering male voice was familiar to Siesta, as it belonged to the headmaster._

_"Hasn't stopped you from..." The first voice began again but Siesta yanked herself from eavesdropping as she forced herself to finish scrubbing the floor as quickly as possible._

Thus Siesta wondered who the women eyeing her actually was, perhaps she truly was a simple maid the headmaster had hired on...

"Hello, My name is Siesta, I suppose you have the key?" Pushing her doubts aside she greeted the strange women, plastering an albeit fake grin on her face.

"...Odette, of course, I have the key. Shall we?" The Odette eyed her closely as she spoke, siesta felt as if her cold blue eyes were sizing her up. Rather than respond verbally to her cold gaze Siesta nodded. The women reached into the folds of her maid uniform, her dainty hand now gripping an old ornate key. Rather than place the key into a lock she simply held it before the door, there was a brief blue glow before the door swung open.

Behind it lay the royal wing, beautiful tapestry on full display alongside ornamental armor. The foreign king had been given the room at the end of the first hallway. Siesta and Odette marched in sync to the door. Siesta gripped the handle, mentally refortifying herself for whatever lay beyond.

The room contained a large four poster bed, dark purple silk hung upon the frame partially blocking the view of the bed. This gave siesta a moment to observe the room, it was mostly unchanged since the last time she had been forced to clean it. A large vanity stood in one corner, beautifully polished glass allowing nobles to ensure their appearance was up to standard.

Some things did stand out though, like the large obsidian chair in front of the vanity seemingly replacing the usual cushioned chair. This obsidian seat seemed to be made for a being of larger than average stature. Additionally, a large black box sat upon the vanity, it appeared to be made out of some dark wood and beautifully etched. Perhaps it was a jewelry box?

Finally, Siesta turned her full attention to the bed, she noted a pile of books near the foot of the bed. These books appeared to be from the library, the book on top of the stack was titled The Grand History of Tristan. She stood besides Odette as they waited for the occupant to stand from the bed. Curiosity was a weakness of Siestas though, thus she craned her neck slightly to glimpse behind the slightly parted silken curtains. The figure lying in the bed was large, nearly taking up the entire bed. Standing the figure would surely be over seven feet tall, wrapped in robes of gorgeous white.

The weave and make of the robe were unlike any clothing Siesta had ever seen in her life. Even her brief glimpse of the royal family didn't match the finery that the figure was cloaked in. Her observations were interrupted as a large gloved hand gripped the silk, pushing it aside to reveal the face of the mysterious figure.

Siesta felt her throat grow dry as the figure's face became clear, it was a skull...An incredibly strange skull as well, pitch black eye sockets with two whirling points of red light, and a chin that was bizarrely pointed. As the pinpricks of red gazed upon her it almost felt like they were tasting her, judging her. She felt her already straight posture stiffen further in fear as his gaze passed over her to Odette.

"I assume you're to be my assistants? Then it is best to introduce myself, I am the sorcerer-king, Ainz Ooal Gown." The skeletal being stated power etched in his every word. Still, Siesta was slightly relieved his voice was far more normal than she'd feared upon seeing his visage.

She felt frustration building in her gut as she thought of how ill-prepared she had truly been. The nobles didn't think they would need more than a simple warning about his appearance? The creature was a literal skeleton! It was pure luck that siesta hadn't gasped out loud at his appearance, though she couldn't help but notice the lack of reaction from her companion, had she been properly warned?

Her internal frustration was interrupted as the skeletal figure spread out its arms, again she couldn't help but be impressed by the beings sheer size. She was slightly confused by his pose, he stood arms spread wide as he looked at them. Odette moved first, pulling off his gloved left hand. Internally face palming siesta rushed to match her pulling his glove from his right hand.

Part of her savored the texture of the glove as she lightly placed it on the bed. She noted his hands were as bizarre as his skull, seeming to contain fewer bones than a regular human. Each of his fingers had gorgeous rings of exquisite make, she again had the feeling she would never see something of such value again. She could also clearly see the gaps between the bones in his hands, for a second she was nearly shocked into inaction as she remembered she was disrobing a skeleton!

Gulping slightly she moved to undo the buttons of the robes, as she helped Odette move the robe onto the bed she was again shocked. The creatures rib cage was large with clear gaps much like its fingers but floating in the area where its stomach would have been was a large red orb. Of all the valuables she had seen thus far she felt this orb dwarfed all the others. It glowed with malevolent red energy, it projected the very idea of power.

"Hm...You are familiar with the fashion of the nobles correct?" The sorcerer-king interrupted her thoughts with his question. She nodded without thinking, as she had seen many of the outfits nobles wore. She almost immediately regretted it as she realized he may be looking for more than a basic understanding of noble fashion.

Luckily Siesta noted Odette nodding as well, hopefully, between the two of them, they could avoid upsetting the skeletal king.

"I've stored several outfits within the closet, jewelry is in the box. Ensure I look properly impressive." The king waved his hand with the command. Siesta gulped as she moved to open the closest praying there wouldn't be too many outfits to choose from. This felt like a trap, what if they choose wrong. Surely upsetting a foreign king would result in severe punishment.

The closest swung open to reveal nearly fifty different outfits. Each as grandiose as the one they had just stripped from the king's form...Siesta felt overwhelmed, luckily Odette seemed more confident as she picked out a light purple outfit, seemingly woven of silk. The buttons made to bind the outfit were made of multicolored gemstones. Odette nodded to the jewelry box as she pulled the outfit from the rack, Siesta moved to the box opening it with shaking hands. Inside sat several amulets and wrist accessories. Each was crafted with gold and inset with various gems.

Had Siesta been more foolhardy, or more desperate she may have been tempted to steal one of the exquisite pieces of jewelry. Yet much like the tapestry, Siesta knew the consequences of stealing such finery were extreme, especially as it would no doubt be a strain foreign relations. Though the thought left her to wonder what kind of kingdom did this skeletal being rule over? How far was it from Tristan? Were all the citizens of his country like him?

Shaking herself from these unimportant thoughts Siesta gulped as she turned to view the outfit being draped upon the sorcerer-king, its dark purple radiance was truly impressive turning back to the box she picked out a large intricately made amulet inlaid with the largest sapphire she had ever seen. She moved to drape it across his neck and noted the ensemble gave the king an aura of dignity and power. She could honestly say the skeletal being was the most kingly being she had ever seen.

The king approached the mirror and seemed to examine his appearance. Siesta felt shivers run down her spine as he judged their choices.

* * *

Ainz felt an imaginary sweat-drop form on his head...It was clear that his fashion sense was what had been altered by his transformation into an undead, even in this world the people's sense of style did not match his own aesthetic taste. When the inhabitants of two separate worlds were both against his own aesthetic taste it was clear he was the problem. Sweeping that internal struggle aside he eyed the two maids that had been assigned to him.

"Tell me your names" Ainz commanded as he eyed the reactions of the maids. The one with black hair straightened up and stared at him nervously. Overall an expected reaction when addressed directly by a Superior for the first time. The other maid seemed...Off to Ainz, something about her movements and cold gaze didn't fit the image of a maid. Something about the way she moved rang a bell in the back of his mind.

"My name is Siesta," The black haired girl responded with a bow, forcing Ainz to push his musings to the back of his mind. He nodded magnanimously as he turned his gaze to the older orange haired women.

"I am Odette," The girl bowed. Ainz committed the names to memory as he moved to the door, the younger girl rushed forward to open it. Ainz stepped out into the hall wondering how to treat the day, he was sorely tempted to remain in the room to continue his reading (Hiding from the world...) but felt that would be a waste when he could do that during his unsleeping nights.

"Give me a tour, I haven't had a chance to explore the school in its entirety," Ainz lied, he had sent a wraith to explore the campus the night before but felt it would be a good way to interact with the residents of this world and give his temporary servants time to adjust to his presence.

They meandered through the halls, Ainz eyeing the rooms they passed. Apparently, a majority of the students were either sleeping or having breakfast. This day was meant to be used to get to know their familiars thus the students weren't expected to attend classes.

Ainz noted the architecture of the school was decent, yet his mind couldn't help but wander back to his own kingdom, establishing a school for magic in E-Rantel would be excellent though costly. The empire already had its own academy for magic but it still lacked any records on talents. He couldn't help but wonder if he could use the idea of higher education to begin tracking talents in his country.

He was pulled from his reverie as they passed through a courtyard where some of the early rising students were playing with their familiars. Ainz couldn't help but note the blue dragon from earlier curled around the blue haired girl, her nose buried in a book. The dragon seemed to notice him as it curled tighter around the girl.

Ainz decided against approaching the temperamental dragon, for now, though he was curious about its species as it didn't match any dragon from his memories. Its smooth scales and coloration were reminiscent of a water dragon, while its body shape and size reminded him of the sleek frost dragons...Hmm, things to ponder in the future he supposed.

As they approached the dining hall he halted eyeing his two servants. The orange haired one maintained her stoic expression, her gait and expression further added to the sense of familiarness she gave off. Ignoring her the younger clearly looked at the dining hall with a look of longing.

"Hmmm...Have you two eaten yet?" He questioned already knowing the answer.

"We are fine, your majesty," Odette said as Siesta slightly jumped. Siesta quickly nodded her head in agreement.

"Nonsense, Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. At least that's what Amanomahitotsu used to say... Consider it a royal order, go eat breakfast and return here for me after" Ainz commanded as he chuckled at the memory of his eccentric friend. He noticed an odd shine in siesta's eyes as both servants bowed and walked off to enjoy their meal.

Ainz decided to continue his walk as they enjoyed their breakfast, he noticed a loud clang from one of the many rooms lining the hall, testing the handle it seemed to be sealed. This was odd as he couldn't see any keyhole, he sent an invisible wraith through to investigate. The room was large but empty, the floor of it was earthen in nature suggesting it was probably used for excess storage. In the center of the room two women made of Brass seemed to be fighting, a lone male figure stood a few feet back observing and adjusting their movements using a...rose? His reading had informed him the magic of this land usually required a wand to perform, perhaps the rose was simply an ornate wand?

The student seemed vaguely familiar, his shining blonde hair and sharp features gave him a bishōnen look. His gaze was fully focused upon the fighting bronze figures. Then it came to Ainz, the boy was part of the crowd who observed his summoning. Ainz considered his options for a moment before opening a gate into the room. Stepping through Ainz noted the boy's fearful expression as he stared upon Ainz.

"Sorry to interrupt but I noticed your training session and thought I would step in," Ainz explained as he observed the boy's gaping expression.

"Your majesty, I apologize for my...Unbecoming behavior!" The youth bowed before him, Ainz internally sighed.

"Nonsense you were training, there is nothing in this world more becoming than seeking strength." Ainz waived magnanimously as the boy raised his head, seeming surprised by Ainz response. The boy grinned sheepishly as he stared back at him.

* * *

Guiche was quite shocked when a black orb interrupted his impromptu training session, he was even more shocked as the skeletal king stepped through its depths. His shock continued to rise as the king didn't admonish his usage of a room students weren't meant to enter. He had sealed it with magic to avoid interruptions and being scolded. As much as he cared for Montmorency, she could be an undue distraction. She didn't seem to grasp the importance of his training.

"So why do you seek strength?" The king questioned, Guiche couldn't help but feel this was some form of test. The king's eyes, burning pinpricks of red seemed to be searching for something... His wording was also odd, rather than call it training he referred to it as seeking strength.

Guiche contemplated how to answer the difficult question, he could simply say he wished to improve. That he wanted to impress others, yet part of him felt the urge to tell the undiluted truth, to not lie to the foreign king.

"My father is a famed general, my family line has always stood proudly under the queen. I wish to be worthy of my families name." Guiche spoke the truth, as he felt lying would be a mistake before the foreign king. Just for a moment, he saw something flash within those burning red eyes, he had the undeniable feeling he had passed the test.

"To live up to a name... To honor the memory of others, it is a heavy burden. Yet, there is no greater honor in this world than to carry on a glorious name. To work to etch it into the face of history, to forge a grand name into an eternal legend..." The king seemed to become lost in thought for a moment as he stared approvingly at Guiche.

Guiche felt a tremor run through his body, he hadn't expected the foreign king to understand his burden. He opened his mouth, he couldn't say what words wished to leave his mouth but it felt necessary to somehow respond to the king's praise. Yet before he could compose a sound response the king continued.

"Hmm...I shall help you then, a light spar to test your strength" The king stated calmly, a smile in his voice.

"Your majesty! I couldn't possibly..." Guiche shock had reached his limit, a noble could not battle a king. It was against all the rules of etiquette and proprietary that existed.

"I understand your worry, if you swear on your name and honor no word of what happens here shall ever leave then I shall do the same." The king offered, a light chuckle in his voice.

Guiche felt sweat bead down his forehead, he should say no! He should refuse the kings offer but... A king was offering him a private lesson in combat, such an honor may never come again. Perhaps the king could even help him grow stronger, in the end, Guiche's curiosity and desire won out over his doubts.

"I swear on my name, Guiche de Gramont that nothing that happens in this room shall ever leave my lips," Guiche swore his oath with a bow.

"Than I, the sorcerer-king, Ainz Ooal Gown swear upon my name nothing that happens in this room shall spread to the greater world." The king swore his oath with a tilt of his head. He then stepped back to the other end of the room, indicating to Guiche to begin the mock battle.

Guiche threw his wand forward creating twelve brass golems, each pulled out there swords as they moved in a classic formation. The king did something quite shocking, reaching his hand into a void and emerging with a large, pitch black halberd. Its dark radiance was terrifying, the king moved forward gracefully slicing the first of his Valkyries in twain. Guiche created a replacement despite the awe-inspiring display the king was putting on, his every movement flowed gracefully into the next with textbook efficiency

The king sliced through his golems with ease, despite his best efforts and continued work to create more the king was growing closer and he was nearly out of mana. Pulling on the last of his reserve Guiche created his trump card, a larger more powerful version of the Valkyrie allowing the one fighting the king to collapse before the black halberd could slice through it.

The larger Valkyrie charged as the king's halberd was still being lifted from his previous swing at the now collapsed Valkyrie. What happened next surprised Guiche rather than raising the halberd back into position the king let it fall from his hand where it collapsed into motes of lights. The king then moved under the Valkyries swing, he then slammed his fist into its midsection sending the heavy brass golem flying with a collapsed chest cavity. Guiche considered trying to repair it and forcing it to fight but his own mana reserves were far to low to attempt such a thing.

"It appears, victory is yours, your majesty." Guiche bowed before the clearly Superior combatant. Smile forming on his face as he heard the king chuckle. Standing straight to look at the king he wiped the sweat from his brow.

"While I don't wish to seem rude I have some advice on your combat..." The king's smile shone through his voice.

"Nay, your majesty I would be honored for any advice you could bestow upon me about the nature of combat," Guiche replied honest intrigue coloring his voice, he wondered on what advice the sorcerer-king would give him.

"Your Valkyries are good at textbook combat but fail to use their off hands, or feet. Their focus was solely on their blade, you should focus on integrating their whole bodies into their fighting style. I would also recommend you keep a few closer to your person as personal guards, you left yourself far to open. If I had used my magic, or a ranged weapon I could have bypassed the Valkyries entirely by killing you." The king critiqued his strategy.

"I'm...Sorry for my disgraceful display your majesty..." Guiche apologized as a blush colored his cheeks, at his lackluster display.

"Do not apologize, learn from this and improve. That is the point of practice is it not?" The king waved the matter aside. Guiche felt a lightness in his chest he only felt when he imagined serving the royal family, pushing it aside he redoubled his focus on the Sorcerer-king.

"Why do you not carry a sword though?" The king questioned, seeming to note Guiches sweat-stained brow.

"I've...Never seen the merit in carrying one your majesty, if I am out of mana the battle is surely decided..." Even as the explanation left his lips he felt his reasoning was flawed. While many nobles held similar thoughts the ruler before him had just shown how closed minded such thoughts were.

"Really? Such thoughts are the height of foolishness, though not wholly uncommon. Imagine for a moment you had managed to drain my mana reserves in combat, would you feel the battle is over then? There are many in the world who share your ideas on a mage being useless without his magic, you should train with a sword so you may turn the tables on an enemy who believes themselves victorious. Take up a sword, or some melee weapon so you can grasp victory from the jaws of defeat." The skeletal lord advised him with a certain sternness.

For a moment Guiche felt both embarrassment and gratitude in equal parts. The king had no reason to advise him in such manners but had deigned to instruct him.

"I shall engrave it into my heart your majesty and purchase a sword at my earliest convenience..." Guiche promised, he was determined to learn the art of swordsmanship, to prove to himself the king's kindness wouldn't be wasted.

"Hmm...I have a better idea," The king spoke confidence in his voice as he reached into the air, his hand disappearing into a black void. It emerged holding a sheathed blade.

"Your majesty...My loyalty is to my country," Guiche stated as he eyed the blade, accepting a blade from a king would be paramount to swearing his loyalty.

"If a pretty blade were enough to get you to betray your country than you wouldn't be worthy of this weapon. It is a gift, consider it a sign that I believe in your ability to carve your name into legend." The king explained holding the blade out to him in one hand. Guiche's inner turmoil came to an end as he gripped the handle and pulled it close, denying a gift from a king would be the height of arrogance.

Cinching the sheath to his belt he pulled the blade free and was awed by it. The body of the blade was pitch black, with runic symbols carved into its side. The tip of the sword curved inward forming a crescent. The edge was an ebony white, and the handle was embossed with a sharpened dark-blue Jewell in the pommel. The blade felt light and perfectly balanced in his hand, and as he held it he felt a rush of strength flow through his body. This sword was surely a blade of legend, Guiche turned his curious expression to the king.

"That is a runic weapon crafted by a group of Dwarves, it was made only a few weeks ago, it much like you is untested. This sword has no name, no legend, it is simply a wonderful example of runecraft. I leave it to you, give it a name and legend worthy of its craft." The king explained its origins with a chuckle.

"I swear on my honor I shall give this sword a legend worthy of its craftsmanship." Guiche bowed, gratitude flowing through his heart. Even his father didn't believe in his dreams of greatness as the king had. He poured his soul into that promise and was promptly embarrassed as his neglected stomach made itself known.

"I'm sure you will, now I believe you should clean up this room and get some food. Till we meet again." The king chuckled as he stood and with a wave of his hand a black gate formed before him as he passed through it.

Guiche sat down with a sigh, as he looked over the slightly damaged room, overall he simply had to move some of the floor around using earth magic and it'd be as good as he found it. He reached behind him to pat his familiar Verdante, a large mole. He had finally come out of hiding now that the sorcerer-king had left. Guiche sighed as he stood looking at the sword still gripped tightly in his hand, it was truly beautiful. Yet he needed to test something, he had sensed something about the blade since he began holding it.

Lifting the sword in front of him he focused, trying to use the sword as a wand to summon a Valkyrie. Shockingly it succeeded, yet the Valkyrie that rose was not made of brass, it shone a bright bronze color. It took a moment for Guiche to fully grasp what he'd done, he had created a bronze Valkyrie something that should have been beyond him.

He sheathed the sword, dispelling the Valkyrie in the process. Pulling out his wand he stared at the rose shaped focusing instrument, he had the wand created several years ago. The man he'd commissioned to make it had looked at him like a madman, yet his protest had been silenced when the coin was offered. Guiche truly loved this wand but...After his talk with the sorcerer-king, he reexamined it. It wasn't the most efficient wand, made for form over function and some part of him now felt it was silly. Perhaps it was time he did away with such a childish thing.

He dropped the rose to the ground, lifting the sword from his side he focused pulling the earthen floor around the rose, burying it. He felt Verdante's eyes on him, questioning.

"Leave it, my dear, its time I left such childish things behind me..." He said solemnly as he turned to begin repairing the rest of the room.

* * *

Ainz was quite pleased with his little training session, he had managed to hand off a fine piece of runecraft. Hopefully, through it he could get others interested in his countries goods, he had been hoping to advertise in the holy kingdom but this new world may have been an even better marketing opportunity. The blade itself was made of adamantite but overall wasn't that valuable, it was also far too weak to damage Ainz.

He returned to the field outside the dining hall to find the maids waiting for him. They both seemed quite surprised as he emerged from the gate. Jumping to attention. They both bowed as they began their tour a new. Passing several more identical looking halls they came to a stop in front of the library, Ainz walked to through the area looking over several books. He was hoping to find some that covered the various creatures in this land or one about the economic state of the country.

He noted the blue haired girl from earlier sitting in one corner, sitting beside a loud red-haired girl. Considering his options for a moment he approached, perhaps the blue haired girl would tell him about her dragon. He was truly interested in what species it was, short of that perhaps she knew of some books covering the different forms of creatures that occupied this world.

As he approached the girls the redhead went silent while the blue-haired girl looked up from her book.

"Greetings, I felt it only right I properly introduce myself after yesterdays unpleasantness. I am the sorcerer-king, Ainz Ooal Gown," Ainz greeted them with a tilt of his head. The red-haired girl seemed nervous while the blue haired girls face remained stoic.

"Good day your majesty, I am Kirche von Zerbst." The red-haired girl introduced herself standing from the table to bow.

"Tabitha, your majesty." The blue haired girl pulled herself from her seat to bow as well.

"Tabitha, I wished to ask you about your dragon. What species is it? I have never seen a dragon quite like it." Ainz explained allowing curiosity to color his voice.

"Rhyme dragon..." Tabitha answered curtly, the girl seemed bizarrely quiet. He couldn't help but wonder if she was still upset over his treatment of the dragon the other day. He could understand holding a grudge but the creature had attacked him first thus he didn't feel he had done any wrong. Sensing he wouldn't get anywhere by questioning the girl's dragon further he decided to ask about books instead.

"I see, well I was hoping to locate some literature on the nature of exotic creatures, do you have any recommendations?" He questioned hopefully. The girl seemed surprised for a moment before rising from her seat and approaching a shelf. She pulled down four books and carried them over to him.

"Bestiaries," She stated as she held out the books. Ainz gracefully took the books into his hand before placing them into his inventory, slightly satisfied as he heard the students gasp as the books disappeared into the void.

"Ill return them later, thank you for your assistance, Tabitha." He forced a note of kindness into his voice, sensing he wouldn't get anything more useful from the two girls he left the library. He decided to take the long way around the outside of the school to get a view of the grounds surrounding his temporary home. The maids were silent trailing behind him as expected, he was honestly just enjoying the feeling of the sun upon his bare skull as he observed the beautiful fields and neighboring forest. It seemed this world also hadn't been damaged by humanity yet.

Something caught his eye though, a flash of blue in the woods. Contemplating it for a moment he made up his mind.

"Remain here, I will return in a moment." He ordered the maids they seemed surprised but bowed in acquiesce. Casting a silent {Time Stop} he began walking into the forest, in rather short order he discovered what he was looking for.

A relatively small blue dragon hiding in a clearing, he took this chance to more closely observe the creature. It truly was an odd specimen, its crested head, and dark blue coloration both reminded Ainz of a water dragon but its powerful wings pointed towards that not being the case. He couldn't help but wonder if Tabitha would allow him to take some of the beast's children in the future. Ainz realized if he wanted such a thing it may be best to attempt to make peace with the beast and its master. Thus Ainz dispelled the {Time Stop} and watched as the beast reared up in shock at his sudden appearance.

"Calm yourself, I've come to speak peacefully, I am Ainz Ooal Gown. What is your name?" Ainz questioned the creature as it seemed to calm itself. Its eyes glued to his figure, fear seeming to radiate from the creature.

"Do not play coy with me, you may be young but you are surely old enough to understand my words. State your name." Ainz ordered even as a sweat drop formed on the back of his head. Perhaps this species of dragon couldn't speak? Perhaps it simply wasn't old enough to comprehend his words? Yet Ainz felt that wasn't the case.

The beast eyes were filled with fear, yet also intelligence. It knew he was a threat but was not following its instincts like the day before. It wasn't nearly enough time to train a beast to deny it's instinct, but more than enough time to order an intelligent being to not attack him. His theory was proven correct as the dragon glowed for a moment taking on a human form.

The human form closely mimicked Tabitha's appearance, a coincidence? Or a conscious choice to mimic the girl? The newly formed girl glared at him in fear.

"Irukukwu," The girl stated calmly. Ainz not for the first time wondered how he would react to the naked girl had he still been human, as it was he could acknowledge the girl was cute, even beautiful but felt no desire over her.

"Irukukwu, it is good to finally speak with you properly. I would like to apologize for my part in our poor first impressions and extend an olive branch," Ainz answered the dragon, pushing those useless thoughts to the back of his mind. Irukukwu eyed him for several moments suspiciously.

"You smell...Like death, like pain, suffering. You'll hurt big sister if I let you," Irukukwu responded with fear and frustration seeping into her voice. Ainz felt the temptation to smell himself for a moment, he had never had someone tell him he smelt before. He had bathed not long before arriving in this world and as an undead, he shouldn't produce any form of sent...

Perhaps the creature's instincts informed it of his high status as an undead? Much like the dragon that had kneeled to him in the dwarven city? Dragons did seem more in-tune with his power even when he wasn't actively projecting his aura. Pushing these thoughts to the back of his mind for later examination he decided to attempt to assuage the creatures fear.

"I swear to you, if you and your sister do not stand against me no harm shall befall you from me." He promised trying to force a soothing tone into his voice. Irukukwu was still eyeing him suspiciously, though there seemed to be a slight shine to its eyes.

"Promise?" Irukukwu questioned. For a moment Ainz honestly felt bad, the way the creature had posed that question was incredibly reminiscent of a child expecting to get scolded. Perhaps the creature was too young to grasp the full impact of its actions, though that probably meant he would be waiting some time before getting any of the creatures children...

"I will swear it upon the name of Ainz Ooal Gown if it will reassure you," Ainz grinned through his reply as he saw the fear receding from the dragon's eyes. The girl seemed satisfied with that, nodding her head with a small smile. She changed back into her draconic form, letting out a light whistling sound. This was interrupted by the loud sound of its stomach rumbling. The dragon lowered its head in embarrassment, almost seeming to blush.

Ainz chuckled to himself as he reached into his inventory, his hand emerged holding a large black pot. Tipping the edge onto the ground tens of fish flowed onto the ground. The dragon seemed to be eyeing them excitedly but did not move to pick them up, seemingly nervous about upsetting his good mood. With a smile, Ainz threw one of the many fish to the creature which it swallowed whole. He then returned the pot to his inventory, casting {Gate} he returned to his assistants.

They finished there walk around the school's grounds before heading into one of many halls. They were heading towards Colbert's workshop, as he wanted to know what avenue the professor was researching to return him to his kingdom.

Upon arriving at the door to the workshop one of the maids opened the door, he ordered them to remain outside as he stepped through. If he were to describe the workshop, he would call it ordered chaos. There were machines, books, and beakers of various fluids were separated into different areas of the room. At the head of the room sitting at a large desk by a window sat Colbert himself working on a large diagram. Ainz was surprised by his lack of greeting but the man seemed fully absorbed in his work.

"Colbert how goes your work?" Ainz questioned to draw the professor's attention. Colbert startled from his seat as he looked up at Ainz.

"Lord Ainz, Apologies! I did not hear you enter." Jean rushed to explain as he bowed. Ainz couldn't help but note the bags under his eyes, it was obvious the man hadn't slept since Ainz arrival.

"Do not let it weigh on you, you are working to return me to my homeland. I can only be pleased with your dedication to this task. I would like to hear your thoughts on the matter." Ainz explained, Jean seemed pleased with his praise before nodding.

"I'm still in the beginning stages but I have made some progress! I'm currently working on recreating the familiar summoning ritual with different runes. These runes are for distance and power. The problem is I need to go through all the runes in the ritual and alter them for a new spell. Saying that even after I've finished these replacements, I don't have a spell to use in place of the familiar summoning spell..." Jean trailed off.

"Don't worry about the spell, focus on the ritual components I believe I have the perfect spell to use in place of it," Ainz stated with more confidence than he felt, rituals were a thing in Yggdrasil but whatever Jean was doing required an understanding of the inner workings of magic that Ainz levels didn't grant him. Pushing his doubt aside he refocused on the professor.

"That's great! Then I should have a testable ritual by the end of the week. Though I'll need to visit the city after I'm done adjusting the ritual to get some materials..." Jean exclaimed happily. Ainz felt his interest rise as he mentioned a visit to the city, he wondered how the cities in this world would measure up to those in new world.

"Truly? Then I think I shall accompany you on your trip. It would be an excellent opportunity to get a better feel for your people's culture." Ainz responded with a smile, noting the way Jean's face seemed to fall.

"Your majesty, I mean no insult but your appearance...Could cause some problems," Jean stated carefully, most likely afraid of insulting him.

"Fear not professor, Ill ensure none will be upset by my unusual appearance. So tell me when do we leave for the city?" Ainz chuckled as he attempted to reassure the professor. He noted the sweat on Jean's brow and his less than believing expression.

"Probably not for another three days, your majesty as it'll take me that long to ensure I've made no mistakes with the runic replacements," Jean explained, as he nervously eyed Ainz.

"I look forward to it professor, it shall be a fine day. Good day, Colbert." Ainz finished before Jean could protest further, as Ainz walked towards the door he stopped. His eyes were drawn to a large device sitting upon a table, something about it struck upon a memory. Finally, it came back to him, an old historic document about the beginning of the industrial revolution, that inevitably lead to the toxic world Suzuki Satoru had inhabited.

"Professor...What is this?" Ainz questioned, pulling the professor from his focus on the ritual diagram.

"Oh, that is a simple device I've been tinkering with. If harnessed properly it could be used to pull carts without the need for horses...Though I haven't worked out all the kinks yet and most nobles seem uninterested in it. I've also struggled with finding a good source of dragons blood to fuel it." Jean proudly explained.

"Professor, I will not tell you what to do with this device but heed my words. Man is not ready for this device and it can cause more damage than you can possibly imagine. Be careful." With those solemn words, Ainz left the confused professor to his work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All right guys hope you enjoyed! I apologize if you didn't like the changes Ive made to Guiche but I wanted to add to his character, put a bit of my own spin on it. Don't worry he's still a womanizer for the moment and hasn't learned his lesson but he's starting on the path to growing up. Anyhow Let me know what you guys think in the reviews!


	4. Louise rough day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> People were curious about Louise...

**After the Familiar summoning ritual**

Louise could admit her recent behavior hadn't been the most... Noble, but in her defense, she wasn't exactly feeling like a noble at the moment. She had failed, the summoning ritual should have been her chance to prove everyone wrong. To show she was worthy of her title as a noble, she would summon a familiar, she would prove she was a mage.

For one glorious moment, Louise thought she'd succeeded when she saw a shape taking form in the dust kicked up by her explosion. Then the figure emerged in all its horrifying glory, a skeletal head with burning pinpricks of light functioning as pupils. It was a creature reminiscent of old fairy tales, meant to terrify children into bed. For a moment Louise felt like a small child under its terrifying gaze. Before she could properly orientate herself and attempt to bind it, the creature spoke. It claimed to be a king! She had planned to berate it and force the contract but Colbert had quickly acquiesced to the creature.

It had taken longer than she liked to admit before she realized why Colbert had so easily believed her summon. It hit her as they moved towards the headmaster's office. The being's every word was infused with absolute authority, its movements were full of an easy regality and sureness she could only remember seeing in her younger years as princess Henrietta's playmate. It's movements and words heavily mimicked those of the royal family, it's every gesture reeked of its absolute authority.

She had been so wrapped up in her shock over the revelation she nearly had a heart attack when her famili...When the king formed a pitch black throne with a wave of his hand, she had been unable to stifle her gasp. She felt a cold sweat roll down her back, she had summoned a foreign noble, not just any noble either but a ruling monarch. What exactly did this mean for her? Her family?

She hadn't meant to, yet commoners and nobles had been hanged for far less egregious crimes against royalty throughout history. Would her country hang her to avoid initiating hostilities between there two kingdoms? Would the skeletal king demand such a thing? She was so lost in her thoughts she was startled when Colbert tapped on her shoulder to get her attention.

She was told that the rest of the conversation wouldn't require her presence and that she should rest. It was definitely for the best she hadn't even heard a word that had passed between the headmaster and the king. Thus with all the dignity, she could muster she returned to her room and collapsed onto her bed in tears.

Her peers had been correct, she really was a zero. Such a zero that she couldn't even bind a familiar, such a zero that she managed to summon a foreign noble and possibly permanently damage Tristain's image in the eyes of another kingdom. Overall that though as she felt tears pouring from her eyes her mothers stern voice appeared in her head, berating her for breaking the rule of steel

She fell asleep to the music of her own broken sobbing.

* * *

When Louise woke she could feel the tear stains on her face, rubbing the sleep from her eyes she moved off her bed. She automatically gathered her clothes, moving to wash herself she stopped at the door. The events of yesterday flooding through her mind, as tears ran from her eyes anew. She curled in on herself to caught in her sadness to move back to her bed. Thus she lay in front of the door, sobbing into her fresh clothes.

She felt so broken, yesterday had been the confirmation of her worst fear. She wasn't a mage, she was a zero, zero success rate with magic, zero familiar. Every insult against her flooded her mind at that moment, every stabbing painful one. They had all been right, Zerbst was probably laughing at her this very moment. Louise didn't know how long she spent curled up by the door to her room, but eventually, she dragged herself back to bed. It's not like there were classes today, they were meant to spend time getting to know their familiars today.

Curling her head under the covers Louise cried herself dry, she would have spent the whole day under those covers if not for the painful rumble from her stomach. Gathering what dignity she could, she picked out a set of non-tear stained clothes and marched her way to the dining hall. She had apparently been wallowing in self misery for over half the day as it was around lunchtime.

She was surprised when she didn't receive any teasing remarks from her peers as she sat down and began her meal. Then again perhaps she still looked as pathetic as she felt. There was quite a bit of space between her and the nearest student and it seemed her depression was working as a notable deterrent from the other students.

As she was eating her meal in silence, she felt eyes boring into her back. She made a valiant attempt to ignore it by shoveling the food more quickly into her mouth. Even as she finished her meal she still felt the eyes boring into her, gathering her courage she turned to find Zerbst staring at her from across the room. Next to her sat Tabitha, Louise weighed her options, on one hand, she was sorely tempted to give Zerbst a piece of her mind on the other she didn't have the energy. Sending the infuriating girl a severe glare she marched out of the dining hall.

Louise almost began walking to class before remembering yet again that there were no classes today, with a sigh she marched back to her room. She threw herself into her desk chair staring down at a clean white piece of parchment. She had been planning on writing her sister Cattleya after the ritual to inform her of what kind of familiar she had summoned. Originally she had wanted the letter yesterday but she had been far to drained to attempt it.

Redoubling her resolve, repeating the rule of steel in her mind she focused on the letter to her dear sister. She tried not to think of a more terrifying letter she needed to write, to a less forgiving family member.

* * *

Louise woke with a start as the sun shined through her window, shaking the sleep from her eyes she picked out a fresh set of clothes. As tempted as she was to curl back under the covers she had class today. Part of her hoped the momentary would distract her from her internal despair, She paused as she passed her desk. looking at the two sheets of parchment, one letter was half complete and addressed to Cattleya. The other was fully blank except for the name at the top.

Dear Karin, It read, she still had no idea how to explain to her mother she failed. No that was a lie she knew exactly how to say it, she just didn't know what to write that would convince her mother and Éléonore that she should stay at the academy. With no magic and no familiar her sister and mother were liable to force the issue.

She had about a week to come up with something to convince her mother and sister she should stay, any longer and her mother was liable to send someone to investigate her lack of correspondence. Pushing the letters to the back of her mind, she picked out a fresh outfit and marched to the dining hall to enjoy breakfast.

Again there seemed to be a wider berth of space between her and the other students, she had ensured she didn't look as haggard as she had yesterday yet her peers still seemed to be actively avoiding her... Well avoiding her more than usual... Pointedly ignoring her depressing thoughts she dug into her breakfast.

she was interrupted as a tray was panted on the table directly across from her, looking up in surprise she found Zerbst glaring down at her.

"Hey, zero! I couldn't help but notice you were barely around yesterday. Did you finally accept the fact you'll always look like a little girl?" Kirche mocked, Louise felt frustration burn in her chest as she blushed.

"At least I don't drag a different boy to my room every night," Louise replied with her own barb.

Several other students tuned them out as they continued their usual back and forth. Focusing on their meals rather than the common sight of Louise and Kirche fighting. After a good twenty minutes of back and forth, Kirche walked off with a huff. The other students began flowing out to their usual classes shaking off the exchange Louise marched angrily out of the dining hall.

As she approached her first class her mind couldn't help but examine the exchange with Kirche, something about it didn't sit right with her. it had actually been refreshing to resume her usual interactions with her nemesis. Kirche hadn't been as...Harsh? No, her words were as barbed as ever, but she hadn't pointed out Louise lack of magical talent or her failure at the summoning ritual. Instead, Kirche had focused solely on her physical attributes, and lack thereof.

Had Kirche been trying to help her? Had Louise old nemesis recognized her despair and somehow knew the normalcy of their arguments would be a comfort? The thought was both comforting and disconcerting, Kirche had never done anything kind for Louise and she had always responded in kind. Perhaps she was simply overthinking it? Perhaps Kirche had simply wanted to focus on her appearance today...

Pushing those thoughts aside Louise entered her first class for the day. At the head of the class stood Chevreuse, an earth mage of some talent on her first day she had shown the ability to turn rock into brass, and explained the prevalence of earth magic in building and ecological endeavors.

Her lesson today seemed to focus on fire magic, which had Kirche practically jumping for joy. While it shamed Louise, she struggled to pay attention to her professor's words. Though she found herself reinvigorated every time Kirche threw some underhanded insult her way.

The rest of her morning followed the same pattern, her struggling to pay attention and only absorbing the lessons in an attempt to prove Kirche wrong. Before she knew it lunch came, drawing her from her class work. She marched to the dining hall in a huff over Kirches last barbed insult about her intelligence being as underdeveloped as her chest.

Sitting down to enjoy her meal she was surprised to see Guiche sitting beside a girl with curled blonde hair, with a brilliant set of baby blue eyes. If memory served her the girls name was Montmorency. Last Louise heard he was dating a younger classmate by the name of Katie.

Pushing the thought away she continued to examine the couple as a maid with black hair approached the couple, curiosity getting the better of her she strained her ears to hear the exchange.

"Apologies my lord, I noticed you left this on the catwalk last night." The maid explained as she placed a glass bottle filled with a bright green liquid upon the table. It appeared to be perfume judging by the cap, despite there relative distance the fear was clear on Guiches face.

"Guiche, why were you on the catwalk with my perfume?" Montmorency questioned suspicion clear in her voice. It was rather strange as Guiche's room was no where near the catwalk. Guiche gulped, wiping a hand across his forehead in an overly dramatic matter.

"My love, do not fear this plebeian is simply mistaken, I wasn't on the catwalk last night. Your perfume must have...fallen from my belt whence I was taking a walk yesterday morning." He professed his innocence and it almost seemed Montmorency would believe his claim. Unfortunately for Guiche, another girl with brown hair and light violet eyes stormed up to their table.

"Guiche! What are you doing with her? Why are you giving her my perfume!?" The girl shouted. Guiche stood from his table mouth hanging slightly agape as he struggled to find words to placate the angry girl. Montmorency also stood from her chair to glare in full force at Guiche.

"Katie, please let me explain" Guiche tried to draw the attention of the two irate women so he could explain himself but they seemed to be ignoring him while they sorted through what he had done. Which Louise couldn't help take a small amount of satisfaction in, it wasn't often that another noble got to feel ignored by their peers.

"What! I made this perfume for Guiche as a symbol of our courtship," Montmorency practically growled as she ignored Guiche plea.

"Guiche swore he purchased it for me as a symbol of our love," Katie explained with tears at the corners of her eyes.

"You said you had eyes for no one else!" The girls yelled in unison, turning to look at the other they seemed to reach the same conclusion with tears in their eyes. They turned back to the heavily sweating Guiche, faces red with sadness and rage.

"You liar!" They shouted as their hands collided with both sides of Guiche's face, Knocking him to the ground. The girls marched out in a huff leaving Guiche to rub his slowly bruising cheeks. He seemed to gather himself before regaining his footing, though his eyes were now locked upon the hapless maid that had returned the perfume.

Louise felt some smug satisfaction at the two timer getting his comeuppance, though she did wince slightly in sympathy for his abused face. Saying that it did make her feel a bit better, she may not be a real mage, but at least she could say with confidence her behavior was nobler than Guiche's own. She did notice as the look he was giving the maid turned to anger.

"You! Thanks to you two innocent women's hearts have been broken! How will you fix this?!" Guiche demanded as the maid apologized continuously. It was clear Guiche was going to berate the maid to bandage his damaged pride, childish but not unexpected behavior from a noble. He reached for his wand but seemed to stop dead.

It was then that Louise noticed his signature rose missing from his side, in its place stood a sheathed sword. The sheath was made of beautiful black leather, white thread stood in contrast across the darkened leather forming patterns and runic symbols across the sheath. The hand that had been reaching for his missing rose now rested on the pommel of his sword. He had gone dead silent as he stared down at the frightened maid, for a moment Louise could have sworn she saw some strange emotion flash across his features.

"For future reference, if you find something of mine please do me the kindness of returning it in private," Guiche stated calmly, all previous anger seemingly gone from his features. He reached down to pick up the perfume, cinching it to his belt as he walked off, most likely to the infirmary.

"I'm sorry my lord, I swear to never make such a mistake in the future..." The maid continued her apologies but was interrupted as Guiche shook his head.

"Nay, the fault is entirely my own... I'm sorry for my outburst, now if you'll excuse me I'm off to the infirmary," With that statement, Guiche marched out with what dignity he had left. Nearly every student stared after his exit, shocked by his behavior. The had all fully expected him to go on berating the plebeian to soothe his damaged pride. It was incredibly bizarre to see him simply walk away, as Louise finished her meal she couldn't help but wonder what had come over her pigheaded peer.

* * *

Ainz was not having the best morning, he had been disturbed from his reading when the maids entered his room. He had been almost done with a text covering many of the mechanics of Brimiric magic and was slightly annoyed with the interruption. Pushing aside the small wave of emotion he stood, eyeing the two maids there to serve him. The orange haired woman from the other day was back, Oddette if memory served him right. While the black haired girl was replaced by another young green haired maid. The new girl's name was Alison, and she mirrored the fearful atmosphere Siesta had given off.

After they dressed him in a garish green robe, that in place of buttons had golden roots to tie the robe together. It had an air of holy and earthen brilliance, or as Ainz preferred to think of it, it looked garish. The green was too bright and the golden roots contrasted aggressively with the rest of the outfit, yet both maids seemed pleased with it thus he pushed his own opinions aside.

He ordered the maids to leave him to his own devices after they finished dressing him, they gave some protest before leaving his room to stand outside and await his next orders. Which he found bizarre the maids of Nazerick had been programmed to act with such devotion to their task, surely the maids had better things to do than wait outside his room all day. Ignoring his annoyance at the inconveniences that ruler-ship brought he resumed his reading.

He had originally wanted to create a few undead to help him sort through the relevant information within the pile of books he gathered, but his plan quickly fell to pieces whence he realized he only had one set of translation glasses on his person. Thus delegating the task to an underling would not only not improve his efficiency but could lead to him missing some crucial detail.

That was secondary though to the actual frustration the information within the books provided. All of them referred to Brimir as the founder, and the books seemed to treat him as a holy figure unto god. They claimed the blasphemous elves had invaded and stolen the holy land and assassinated the founder. Yet Ainz had some serious doubt about the reasoning the books used. While a war over land was hardly surprising the fact every other war between humans and elf was instigated by humanity left him with serious questions.

If the humanity of this world wished to paint the elves as monsters they had done a rather poor job of it, though perhaps that was simply from an outsiders perspective. The fact the elves had only ever instigated a war once in their history told a story of a people not predisposed to war. So why had the elves taken the holy land, more why did they continue to hold it so fiercely when it drew humans into war with them? Perhaps that's what the elves wanted? To have the humans bring the battle to them on their home turf?

Yet he didn't buy it, the elves had an advantage especially after the fall of the holy lands but they never pushed beyond it, never tried to claim more of the world. He had a theory, there was something in the holy lands, something powerful enough, or terrifying enough to force the seemingly docile elves into war. Something they couldn't trust humans with, something they couldn't move. Now the question what was hiding in the holy lands? Perhaps a world class item? Or some other magical object, of similar power. Whatever it was terrified the elves enough to force the humans from there land.

Pushing aside the maddening theories Ainz slammed the history book closed, this particular book he had stolen from a sealed off hidden segment of the library. He had only found it using a wraith to search the school on his first day. Adding the book back to his inventory he walked to his window bemoaning the fact he would have to take the maids with him if he wanted a peaceful walk.

Ainz spotted a familiar young man holding his face and marching off the path into the woods. For a moment Ainz considered his options, he could walk out with the maids and follow after him the proper way, but that would leave no room for a private conversation the young man would most likely prefer. Ainz marched to his door ensuring it was locked he opened his window casting {Perfect Unknowable} and {Fly}

* * *

Guiche sighed to himself, while he had been tempted to rush to the infirmary to soothe his aching face he decided against it. Instead, he walked into the woods, arriving at a small clearing. He rather ungracefully sat upon the soft moss beneath a tree, his loyal familiar curling into his side, he was embarrassed he had been caught, upset he had hurt Montmorency and Katie.

Yet above all these emotions was the overwhelming shame he felt in his chest. Not for yelling at the commoner, least not just for that. He had reached for his wand, the wand he had put down. He had meant to leave childish things behind him, and yet he had hurt someone he cared for deeply due to his childishness. Even worse he had very nearly drawn his sword against a plebeian, a person whose only mistake was returning something to him.

How disappointed would his father be to see him throw such a fit, more what would the sorcerer-king think if he learned the sword he had gifted to guiche had nearly been drawn over such a petty matter. He had sworn on his honor to give the sword a legend worthy of its craftsmanship...

Drawing a sword on an innocent commoner, after cheating on his girlfriend, hardly the start of a grand legend. He felt tears gather in the corners of his eyes, he would not cry though. This was a mess born of his own stupidity, he would not dishonor himself further by giving such a pitiful display.

"Greeting Guiche, it is good to see you again," A Familiar voice jerked Guiche from his reverie, somehow the sorcerer-king himself had appeared in the middle of the clearing. There was no sign the brush had been disturbed, and he hadn't seen the blackened sphere the king had made before. Pushing aside his pondering, he rose to his feet and performed a quick bow in greeting.

"Your majesty! I apologize for my shameful condition... I did not expect to see you here," Guiche apologized as he blushed in shame, yet another failing of his foolishness.

"It is fine Guiche, I was simply out for a walk when I spotted you wandering into the woods, though you seem rather distressed. Why is that?" The king questioned curiously. Guiche considered his options for a moment, he could lie. No one was liable to tell the sorcerer-king the details of such a minor incident. It would be the correct political decision to not show weakness to a foreign king, to not share an incident that would make him lesser in the eyes of royalty. Yet as he considered this option his hand fell to the pommel of the sword he had been gifted.

He would not further besmirch his honor with another childish lie. Thus he bowed his head slightly as he explained his foolish actions. Even detailing how he almost raised the sword to threaten a commoner. He glanced up a few times during the story but the sorcerer-kings face remained unchanging. Yet he couldn't help but feel judgment in the king's eyes.

Thus as he finished his tale he took a knee, removing his sword from his belt he held it out in both hands. He knew it was preemptive but he didn't feel the need to drag out the obvious outcome. As awful as he felt, he knew he had no one to blame for losing his sword but himself. The sorcerer-king did not take the sword though, instead one of his massive bony hands patted him on the head. Glancing up he could almost feel the smile radiating from the king's skeletal visage.

"The sword is your's Guiche it is not mine to take back, and I would be a truly petty person to not forgive such a small transgression. The fact you cared so much about what you almost did shows you are worthy of that blade" The sorcerer-king chuckled lightly, his eyes gleaming like burning rubies. With a small smile, Guiche rose to his feet, reattaching the blade to his side.

"I will offer you some sage advice gifted to me by an old friend. 'Dating more women is fun, but don't sacrifice love for it. No amount of fun is worth the pain you can cause to someone who actually matters.' So I will not begrudge you your fun but follow my friend's advice don't sacrifice something real for the thrill of a moment." The king gave his sage advice as Guiche pondered what mattered most to him. His thoughts wandered to Montmorency, as he smiled.

"Your friend sounds very wise, I shall take his advice to heart," Guiche promised with a bow. Though he was a bit perplexed, was the king's friend another skeleton? A different creature altogether? Why had it given that advice to the Skeletal sorcerer king? Was he in search of suitors? Were there female versions of...Whatever the sorcerer-king was?

"Your face seems to be bruising, I believe I have something to help," The sorcerer-king pulled him from his reverie with his words. It was still quite jarring to see the kings hand disappear into a black void, last time it had emerged with a sword. This time it emerged with a glass vial full of a deep purple liquid, the color reminded Guiche of a deadly poison he had once read about.

Pushing aside the doubt in his heart he took the potion and consumed it in a single gulp, if the king had wished him dead he had no doubt he would already be dead. Poison would hardly be the most efficient way for such a powerful monarch to deal with him. It was miraculous, the pain in his cheeks instantly faded and he could feel the bruises fading away.

"Thank you, your majesty." Guiche grinned as he straightened up to look the foreign king in the eyes.

"Hmm...Now, do you have any more classes today?" The king questioned, a strange light in his burning red eyes.

"I had two more classes but the first is no doubt almost over at this point, the other students most likely informed the teacher I am in the infirmary," he explained his schedule nervously.

"I see, then how would you feel about skipping the other class as well? I believe you said you wanted to learn to wield that blade, I believe I can be of assistance." Ainz offered with a smile as Guiche felt himself brighten at the prospect of learning to use the glorious weapon cinched to his side.

"I...Can't possibly take up a blade against royalty!" Guiche declined fervently, as much as he wished to learn more of the art of swordsmanship he wouldn't dare attack a king, especially one that had offered him such kindness.

"Of course not, I will not be your training partner...He will," The sorcerer-king seemed to grin as he lifted his left hand and snapped his fingers. A black mist roiled from his hand landing upon the ground, the black mist rose up forming a humanoid shape. As the mist settled the shape became more distinct, it appeared to be a simple skeleton, holding a rusted sword and shield.

Guiche felt sweat bead down his back as he eyed his "Training partner." Despite the rather ramshackle appearance of its equipment, he could sense something within its stance, a hatred burning beneath the surface of its black featureless eye sockets.

"Let's get started!" The sorcerer-king commanded as the skeleton rushed towards Guiche with gusto.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We will see some more Louise in the future but her interactions with Ainz are a few chapters off, she needs time to balance herself. At the moment she's still to devastated to speak with him, she needs some time to stop viewing him as the symbol of her failure. Don't worry we wont have a massive focus on Guiche, Ainz has simply set him on a path to grow as a person in ways we didn't see in cannon
> 
> Some apologies are in order first, I'm sorry if the layout of the school doesn't make sense to the anime/light novels, but I couldn't find an accurate map/blueprint (that didn't look like it was built by a madman) thus some of these area descriptions will probably not fit/make sense.
> 
> Second sorry if any of you feel this is moving too slowly but I throw up in my rather meager defense Ainz took nine volumes to come out of hiding. I won't take that long but I am trying to mirror the style of the light novel. All right with that out of the read and review, much love and thank you for the support.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Looking for a beta reader, let me know if there's any interest.

Guiche couldn't help but think the last two days had been both the strangest and most frustrating days in his life. All his attempts to apologize to Montmorency failed, she refused to hear his words, storming off whenever he attempted to apologize. He hoped the fact she hadn't demanded her perfume back was a sign she would forgive him in time. Still, the fact she hadn't spoken a single word to him in the last two days, even in the same class was distressing.

His apology to Katie had gone slightly better, though they weren't on the best of terms for the moment. The strange thing was the sorcerer-king had invited him to continue training, over the last two days as the sun began to set Guiche would meet the sorcerer-king in the clearing. The Sorcerer king would summon more of his bizarre skeletal servants for Guiche to train with. He could feel himself improving, while the undead summons had a frightening appearance and aura, they weren't overly agile.

He could now confidently swing and parry with his sword, while he was still learning the basics he was pleased with his progress. Still, a more agile opponent would surely find his skills lacking, yet the sorcerer-king never seemed displeased with his slow progress.

While Guiche felt incredibly grateful, he was also paranoid. He couldn't grasp why the sorcerer-king was helping him. Why would a king be so willing to train him? What did the king stand to gain? Why did he demand Guiche kill the undead after his training was done for the day? Why had the king asked about legends and enchanted weapons? Why had the king asked about martial arts of all things? Why would a king want to know about unarmed combat?

Still despite Guiche's doubts during their interactions he sensed a pure form of nobility and kindness he was unfamiliar with. The king had offered him water from a magical jug he pulled from the void. Beyond a few questions, the king always seemed rather aloof, watching his progress with a critical eye. The kings gaze spurred Guiche to try even harder, each time his skeletal foe knocked him down or disarmed him he felt even more driven to succeed. To show the king his faith hadn't been misplaced.

The sorcerer-king had informed Guiche that he wouldn't be able to help him train for a few days. Guiche had desperately wished to know why but did not wish to disrespect the kings will by questioning him. Still, it did leave Guiche's afternoon entirely free as he only had morning classes today, the training had served as an excellent distraction from the pain of Montmorency still not talking to him.

Pushing aside these morose thoughts he finished his lunch, leaving the dining hall he planned to walk around the academies grounds to clear his mind. It was during this walk that he came upon a strange sight, professor Colbert standing by a wooden carriage. The stables were near and he was examining the horses. It seemed bizarre because last he heard the professor had absconded from teaching classes to assist the sorcerer-king. The carriage itself looked expensive, made of fine oak and luxuriously upholstered.

Why was the professor organizing a carriage? Perhaps he required supplies from the city? Though that left the question of why he required such a high-class carriage? While the professor was respected he wouldn't need such luxurious transportation unless he planned to visit with high-class nobility. Pushing these thoughts aside Guiche resolved to ask the teacher himself. His approach was interrupted as a familiar black hemisphere formed behind the teacher, the figure of the sorcerer-king emerging from it.

"Colbert are our preparations complete?" The king questioned as his eyes wandered over the carriage, seemingly unimpressed with its fine craftsmanship.

"Of course your majesty, I simply need to hook the horses to the cart and we can begin our journey. Are you sure you wish to accompany me? I'm not sure of any inns in Tristania that would be fit for royalty..." Professor Colbert trailed off nervously as he eyed the sorcerer-king, seeming slightly desperate.

"Don't concern yourself with our lodgings, I have it well in hand. As for the horse allow me to ask a question, we won't arrive before nightfall due to the horses requiring rest correct?" The king asked as he walked around the front of the carriage eyeing the stirrups that would hold the horse in place.

"Yes?" Colbert seemed rather confused by the obvious question, Guiche decided it was time to make himself known as he did not wish to be disrespectful and eavesdrop.

"Your majesty, professor," Guiche greeted with a bow, Colbert wore a surprised expression while the sorcerer-king seemed unaffected. Guiche had the distinct impression the sorcerer-king had been aware of his presence the whole time.

"Ah Guiche, we were just finishing our preparations for a trip to the fine city of Tristania, did you need something?" The King asked as his hand reached into the void, emerging with his hand closed around a small object.

"I would like to accompany you on your trip, Your Majesty if you would be so kind as to allow it." Guiche was shocked by his own request, he hadn't meant to for such a request to leave his mouth. It seemed his desire to spend more time with the sorcerer-king had manifested itself despite his wish not to disrespect the foreign king.

"Will that not interfere with your school work?" Colbert questioned as he eyed Guiche with a critical eye.

"No, Professor Chevreuse was injured during an...Unfortunate incident during class earlier today, thus my classes tomorrow were canceled." Guiche explained, truthfully Chevreuse had been injured when she asked Louise to turn dirt into brass. The explosion had caused a large chunk of stone to fall from the ceiling and hit her in the arm.

The healers had already repaired most of the damage to her arm but she had been told to rest for a few day's to ensure she healed properly. Louise had apologized at length to the injured professor and the issue had been mostly dropped. Though there were other teachers that could cover for her the headmaster had declared it an extended void day for the students... Most agreed he was probably too lazy to reschedule any of the staff.

"May I ask why you wish to come with us Guiche?" Colbert spoke to Guiche with a critical eye, as if the professor was trying to peer through him.

"I believe it would be an excellent chance to purchase a gift to apologize to Montmorency," Guiche gulped, he had come up with the excuse on the spot to avoid outing his connection to the sorcerer-king. Yet it was also true, their trip to the city would be an excellent chance to find a gift for his angry girlfriend.

"Then I see no problem with you accompanying us, do you, Colbert?" The sorcerer-king asked the professor for his thoughts.

"I suppose if you have no other classes, there would be no problem with you accompanying us on a trip to the city..."Colbert trailed off in thought, most likely worried Guiche would do something to insult the sorcerer-king.

"Excellent! Then I would like to suggest we use this in place of a horse..." The sorcerer-king stated as he dropped the object he pulled from the void onto the ground. It appeared to be a small horse statue, made of some earthen material. When it hit the ground it began to grow in size, growing until it reached the size of a regular horse. Even more, shockingly the newly formed golem moved into the harness and seemed to be waiting for someone to hitch it to the carriage.

Colbert seemed quite shocked by the golems sudden growth, in contrast, Guiche had seen the sorcerer-kings strange summons several times now. While the horse was new it was nowhere near the most shocking thing he had seen the king do.

"What exactly is it your majesty?" Colbert asked as he walked around the newly grown earthen horse.

"It is a magical item known as a terracotta horse, it will never tire or hunger making it an excellent means of transportation." The sorcerer-king explained as Colbert began harnessing the magical horse.

"Are these common in your kingdom?" Guiche asked curiously, the sorcerer-king rarely mentioned his kingdom during their training sessions.

"No, in my kingdom we prefer to make use of undead horses. They aren't nearly as expensive to make as this beast, and the undead boasts more powerful abilities. Alas, I fear their appearance could cause some issues..." The king explained with a light chuckle.

"Your majesty, what about...Your..." Guiche was at a loss, he wished to question the king about his own appearance causing problems. Yet doing so would be a breach of etiquette and highly disrespectful. Thus he was left floundering for a way to convey his question in a proper manner.

"Ah, you worry for my appearance as well Guiche? Colbert has been quite curious about it as well, observe," The sorcerer-king spoke with a note of showmanship. He passed his hand over his face, and in place of his skull, there was now a human face, black hair, and dark eyes set into a rather average looking face.

"What? How? Your majesty..." Colbert gasped as he examined the magical change that had overtaken the king's usually skeletal face. Guiche himself was shocked by the sudden change as well, without prior knowledge he would have assumed the sorcerer-king was nothing more than a peculiarly tall noble.

"It's a simple illusion, able to fool the eyes but not much else, which is why I shall be wearing this over it." The sorcerer-king explained as his newly formed illusionary face smiled. He passed his hand through the illusions nose, no doubt to display its flaws, still, Guiche felt the spell was quite impressive.

The sorcerer-king reached into the void once more, emerging with a brilliant red mask. The eyes of the mask were bright blue yet what stood out the most was the unnerving smile painted on the mask. With no ceremony, the sorcerer-king placed the mask over his illusionary face.

"I believe this should be more than enough to avoid drawing suspicion, don't you agree?" The King chuckled as his masked faced gazed over the impressed expressions of both Colbert and Guiche.

* * *

Guiche woke with a start, realizing he wasn't in his bed he jerked upright to find himself staring across a carriage at the sorcerer-king. It took him a moment to regain his bearings, remembering how he came to be there he blushed. He hadn't intended to fall asleep in front of the king but the movement of the carriage had carried him off to sleep without his consent.

Though thankfully the king seemed preoccupied with a book, the title read, The holy element, lost to time. Guiche actually recognized the book it had been part of the curriculum last year, it focused on the lost element of the void and the history of Brimir.

Strangely the king's skeletal head now bore a pair of finely crafted glasses with deep blue lenses, the rims were a light bronze covered in incredibly fine runic symbols. Much like the kings clothing, the value of those glasses surpassed any Guiche had seen before. Part of him was curious though, was the king nearsighted? He had never seen the glasses before but he also couldn't remember the king reading in his presence. Could a creature such as the sorcerer-king even have problems with his vision?

Colbert was at the head of the carriage directing the earthen horse on their journey, despite the king's assurance he could guide the horse from within the carriage. Alas, Colbert had not wished to draw further attention to themselves by having no one at the reigns, leaving Guiche and the sorcerer-king in the carriage. The king finally seemed to take notice of him waking from his nap, the king removed his glasses placing both them and the book into the black void he so often summoned.

"Ah Guiche, your awake. We are but a few hours from the city, we will be stopping to camp soon." The king explained kindly, seeming to ignore his disrespectful nap. Though Guiche was slightly confused why would they camp while so close to the city, it would surely be more proper to find a fine inn within the city rather than force a royal to camp outside?

He felt the temptation to offer the king lodgings in his family estate, while it was a good three hours from the city it would be far better equipped to serve a king during his stay. Remembering the king's words about handling their lodgings Guiche decided to hold off on the offer for now. If they began setting up tents though he would insist upon the idea though, royalty shouldn't be forced to rest under the stars, his honor wouldn't allow it.

Still, he couldn't help but wonder did the king sleep? He had never seen him rest, was the king incapable of sleep? Guiche felt the urge to ask but felt it would be a breach of etiquette to ask such a personal question.

"Guiche, if you have a question, do ask, I don't enjoy others stumbling over themselves due to a simple question," The king chuckled, his red eyes staring back at Guiches no doubt embarrassed expression.

"I was just wondering...If you actually needed sleep?" Guiche asked nervously as he looked up at the sorcerer-kings kind noble personage.

"Of course not Guiche, as an undead creature I do not have the same needs as the living," The king chuckled lightly at the question, which made Guiche feel even more embarrassed, of course, an undead being would have no need for sleep.

"Apologies your majesty, I should have known," Guiche bowed his head in apology. Though he couldn't help but imagine what it would be like to never sleep, it sounded awful but that was from the perspective of a being that could tire.

"Nonsense Guiche, we are simply different beings. With different perspectives and understandings of the world. There is no shame is such a thing..." The king kindly explained, bringing a smile to Guiches own face. Suddenly he felt the carriage come to a stop, he could hear Colbert jumping from the front of the carriage, to walk around the cart to pull open the door.

"Your Majesty the... Horse has stopped, we are still two hours from the city?" The professor questioned with confusion written across his face. The sorcerer-king stood from his seat, ducking to fit through the door. Guiche wished they had a larger carriage available to better accommodate the foreign king's height.

"Excellent, follow me," The king stated enthusiastically as he walked past the professor, Guiche rushed to follow. He noted the sun was beginning to set, which impressed him. With a regular horse, they wouldn't have gotten this close to the city for at least another two hours, truly the terracotta horse was an impressive item.

They walked slightly into the woods, the horse pulling the carriage close behind them. It barely managed to squeeze between several trees but the earthen horse was smart enough to avoid getting stuck. They arrived at a small clearing not far from the road, though it was well concealed by the treeline. The sorcerer-king examined the area for some reason before nodding his head magnanimously.

"This should do nicely," The king stated as his hand reached into the void, it emerged holding what appeared to be a tiny green, house. Suddenly a large green cottage formed before the sorcerer-king, even having a stable at the side. Guiche heard the professor gasp at the same moment he did, the sorcerer-king had just pulled an entire house from seemingly nothing.

"Shall we?" The king asked as he opened the door entering the cottage, Colbert and Guiche followed close behind. Guiche was quite shocked at the interior, it seemed far larger inside than it had appeared outside. The lights within were made of a strange glowing crystal that gave the building a warm homely feeling, while still not truly appropriate for royalty this building was still quite well made. Shaking off these thoughts Guiche moved to investigate their new lodgings.

* * *

They had a simple meal of bread and cheese, meant to stave off hunger until tomorrow where they could stop at a proper eatery. The sorcerer-king left them to their quiet meal, wandering into one of the many rooms the cottage boasted. Colbert apologized to Guiche before retiring for the night, no doubt exhausted by his position at the front of the carriage.

Guiche checked in on his room finding it adequate, it contained a soft bed, while crystal provided a low warm light. Satisfied with his inspection he walked outside to find Verdante waiting for him. His familiar had followed them underground, he reached down to pet his familiar smile plastered upon his face. The setting sun shone through the trees giving the forest an enchanted look, Guiche let himself absorb the calm atmosphere.

His relaxation was interrupted by the sound of a door opening, jerking up Guiche saw the sorcerer-king standing in front of the door. His gaze swept over Guiche and his familiar.

"Ah Guiche, it seems we will be able to continue your training today," The king chuckled as Guiche pulled his sword from its sheath, a smile forming on his face. He took the stance the sorcerer-king had shown him, lowering his center of mass.

"Hmm...I have a different opponent in mind for tonight," The sorcerer-king nodded to himself, with a snap of his fingers the familiar black mist fell from his hand. The mist grew far larger than it usually did forming into an entity that stood slightly shorter than the sorcerer-king himself. It held a massive flamberge and tower shield in its hands. If the usual undead Guiche fought was full of internal rage the one standing before him now radiated hatred.

Its humanoid shape somehow made it seem more bestial, a creature born of condensing pure hatred down to a single point... It threw back it's head and roared, Guiche felt overwhelming terror race through his mind. His every instinct screamed at him to flee the creature standing before him.

It was a bit strange while the creature was terrifying the fear he felt now seemed disproportional. Despite that, he held his ground. The bestial undead began marching towards him methodically. Each step furthering the terror growing in his heart, he knew his death approached and felt the urge to flee...

Yet he could not, the thought of the sorcerer-kings judgment, his father's disappointment, Montmorency never seeing his potential. All these flashed through Guiches mind and drove him to raise his sword, shouting out a cry of determination he brought the blade to strike the massive undead creature. The creature blocked his clumsy strike, knocking him to the ground.

Suddenly the fear disappeared and the undead seemed less overwhelming, stepping back the beast turned to the sorcerer-king. He ordered the undead to guard the cottage, causing it to bound off into the forest. This left Guiche on his knees before the sorcerer-king.

"Guiche I am impressed, it takes a strong will to fight through your fear. This was a test to see if you could face the fear of death, it may have felt overwhelming but one of my guardians assured me such test were important," The king chuckled as he gazed down at Guiche panting visage.

Guiche felt overwhelmed but grateful, the king had intentionally terrified him to test his resolve and more shockingly he had passed. He burst out laughing before the king, uproarious, unapologetic laughter. Even proper etiquette wasn't enough to stop him...

"Your...your majesty...Why? Why are you helping me?" Guiche asked between his rumbling laughter.

* * *

Ainz was shocked by the question, while the boy's quest to make his name a legend did resonate with Ainz it wasn't the reason he'd chosen to help. The truth was the boy was an incredibly useful connection, his father was a general. Giving him a piece of rune-craft was a logical marketing ploy if Guiche's father saw the sword and was impressed by it there was a good chance his father would attempt to reach Ainz to purchase more runic equipment.

The training was an experiment, in all Ainz research he had yet to find any evidence this world had a leveling system. This would make this world more similar to earth than either New World or Yggdrasil. His training with Guiche had shown just that, he didn't seem to be gaining any levels. While he was improving there was no jump in ability or strength as there should have been.

Yet Ainz knew the truth would likely upset the young man before him, thus he came up with a different answer...

"I am helping you because in you I see potential, I see a man who could be a legend. In you I see a hero the likes of which this world has never known," Ainz fibbed while trying to project a majestic aura. Guiche looked at him with deep admiration, standing from his knees he bowed gratefully.

"I will not disappoint you, your majesty..." Guiche promised tears forming in the corners of his eyes. Wiping his eyes lightly he felt a skeletal hand land upon his shoulder, he looked up into the magnanimous face of the sorcerer-king.

"Call me Ainz," Ainz said with a smile.

* * *

The morning found the group back on the road, Ainz sat across from Guiche within the carriage. As they drew closer to the city he created the illusion around his face, equipping the mask of envy in preparation. They stopped a mile outside the city opting to walk the rest of the way to avoid questions about the terracotta horse.

As Ainz saw the outskirts he noted the city appeared to be smaller than the capital of the Baharuth Empire, but larger then E-Rantel. It also seemed to lack the defensive measures of the two cities, lacking defensive walls or an army of knights. There did seem to be a few guards scattered about, but they didn't appear to be part of a patrol. It did seem a bit strange but Ainz pushed it out of his mind as they moved further into the city. He noted his companions eyeing a fancy looking restaurant hungrily, with a sigh he halted his movements Colbert and Guiche following suit.

"Go have a proper breakfast, I will remain here to look over some of these stalls," Ainz chuckled as both his companions looked at him guiltily. They both seemed reluctant but hunger won out as they walked into the fancy restaurant. Ainz turned his gaze to examine a few stalls, receiving many strange and frightened looks from the passing citizens, no doubt intimidated by his mask and large size.

Ainz noted a large statue at the central intersection between four paths, it seemed to be a statue of Brimir. Part of him couldn't help but feel a flash of jealousy, at least Brimir's followers had waited until after his death to erect a statue of him.

Pushing those thoughts aside he began looking over a stall selling assorted gems, none of which seemed overly valuable. As with street vendors in the empire, most of them lacked items of value. When he sensed something bizarre, something that shouldn't be here. Deciding to investigate the anomaly later he continued his browsing, stopping as Guiche and the professor returned to his side.

The professor began leading them down a series of alleys, apparently, he had a very specific alchemist shop in mind. Passing many shady looking businesses and abandoned buildings they came upon a building with a sign reading 'The Black Cauldron'. Ainz honestly felt annoyed by such a generic name, the shop owner could have been a bit more creative at least. Pushing his annoyance to the back of his mind he turned to the professor as they stopped at the front door.

"Your majesty, while my friend is an excellent alchemist, she is a bit...eccentric, I feel it may be best if I went to talk to her alone..." Colbert trailed off nervously, Ainz nodded magnanimously. As annoyed as he was about the alchemy shops name he understood the professor not wanting Ainz to interfere with a private conversation between old friends.

Leaving the professor to collect the ingredients, Ainz began walking along the ally looking over several shops. One that stood out to him was a sign with two crossed swords. Ainz began walking towards the slightly open door, Guiche following close behind. Inside the shop was slightly dingy but hanging from the walls and filling barrels were several weapons. They varied in quality and age but they were very numerous.

The shopkeep was a bald man with a large scar running across one of his eyes, wearing a blacksmith's apron and polishing a steel sword. To an average person, the man would probably seem intimidating but the man was a foot shorter then Ainz. Making his attempt to puff up his chest seem rather silly, Ainz walked up to the counter.

"Do you have any enchanted items for sale?" Ainz asked politely as he towered over the man. The shopkeep seemed nervous about addressing his towering figure.

"Of course good sir, have a look at this!" The store owner walked into the back of the store theatrically, on his return he held a large blade inset with several gems. The golden handle was inlaid with rubies, and the blade was a shining silver. Ainz lifted the weapon to his eye, casting a silent {Appraisal magic item}.

"This fine blade was crafted in Germania, it's enchanted to increase the strength of the wielder! She's all yours for fifty écu!" The shopkeep emoted, failing to notice Ainz rising irritation.

"Did you think you could make a fool of me? This blade holds no magic, and it seems to be made solely for appearance." Ainz criticized as he gripped the blade, snapping it in two with the application of his strength. The shopkeep looked terrified while Guiche stared in wonder at the shattered blade.

"I believe we are done here Guiche, did you not say you wished to find a gift for your girlfriend? Let's wander the market a bit more..." Ainz and Guiche marched out of the store without a glance back at the fearful shopkeeper. Both of them failed to hear a muffled voice from the bottom of a barrel.

* * *

The rest of the day passed in a blur to Ainz, they searched many shops and stalls but struggled to find anything of value. Guiche eventually settled on a pair of earrings for Montmorency, the professor returned with news that the ingredients were being carried back to their carriage. It was nearing dusk as they began looking for a decent inn.

They arrived at an inn known as the sleeping giant, it was a rather wealthy establishment, Colbert paid for three rooms and they decided to take an early night. After going their separate ways Ainz used {Greater Teleportation} to teleport to the ally behind the inn. Casting a silent {Perfect unknowable} And {Fly} he began his search for the anomaly he sensed earlier.

Flying over the rooftops he honed his senses, it appeared to be moving about the city. He eventually tracked it down to a desolate ally, silently lowering himself to the ground he found a bizarre sight. A little blonde haired girl, who couldn't be more than five years of age with her teeth sunk into the neck of an older man. The man was heavily scarred and growing paler every second, most would be disturbed by such a sight but Ainz felt nothing as he watched the girl drain the life from the man.

Clearing his nonexistent throat the girl failed to respond, it took a moment for Ainz to realize his embarrassing failure. He hadn't canceled perfect unknowable thus any noise he made was still silent. Feeling glad that no one could see his embarrassment, he dispelled {Perfect Unknowable} then cleared his throat. The girl jerked up from her meal staring at his masked figure for a moment before throwing her hand forward, launching a knife towards him. The knife glowed a light green and collapsed as it neared his personage.

"Well that was rude, please calm yourself. I am Ainz Ooal Gown, I was quite shocked when I sensed another undead within this city. I did not know others of my kind wandered this world," Ainz explained calmly trying to reassure the now frightened vampire, the girl was now standing backing up against the wall of the alley.

"Undead? Are you one of the elder's pets?" The girl questioned as she eyed him suspiciously, Ainz felt insulted at being called someone's pet but pushed it aside for the moment.

"Hardly, I am the sorcerer-king and who might you be?" Ainz questioned as he removed his mask, the girl gasped as she stared at his skeletal face. It would appear even among the undead of this world his appearance was strange.

"I am Lorraine, what are you?" Lorraine asked curiosity and fear coloring her voice.

"I believe we have much to discuss Lorraine..." Ainz chuckled lightly.

* * *

Ainz was quite pleased with the information Lorraine had shared with him, apparently, she was hiding in the city to avoid a large vampire meeting between a group of three ancient and powerful vampires. They served as the leaders of their individual clans, large groups of vampires that worked together to remain hidden from human eyes. Lorraine was technically an outcast of the clans due to her refusal to join any of them, she only knew of the meeting due to a friend within the clans letting her know.

Still, fortune seemed to smile upon Ainz, the vampires were meeting in an ancient mausoleum deep in the forest. The clan heads only met once every hundred years, thus this would be the perfect opportunity to put an end to this worlds vampiric problem and gather information from the ancient leaders.

The oldest clan head was known as Raphael apparently, he had been around for nearly two thousand years. He had the largest clan numbering three hundred, he was known for his obsession with gathering knowledge.

The youngest clan head was barely five hundred years old and went by the name Victor, his group was the most active among the clans often moving around the world to remain undetected, he led around two hundred and fifty vampires.

Adam was around seven hundred years old and led the most vicious group, it was rare for members of his group to live past a hundred years as their brutal tendencies often drew human interest, he led a group of vampires numbering just over one hundred and fifty.

Ainz approached the mausoleum under the cover of {Perfect Unknowable}, Loraine had remained in the city. Ainz told her to wait for him within an abandoned warehouse, hopefully, she didn't attempt to flee, it would be irritating to track her down.

The mausoleum was quite run down, nothing like the beautifully maintained mausoleum of Nazerick, pushing these thoughts aside he entered the central structure silently. After walking down several different staircases and long winding halls he came upon the central chamber. Using an invisible wraith he peered within, the chamber was massive.

In the center of the chamber, three men sat around a stone table discussing something about good hunting grounds. The rest of the room was full of tables, on these tables, several humans were chained down. Obviously taken from the dregs of society, several of the humans appeared to have already died from the vampires feeding.

Every creature here set off his undead blessing, despite looking like ordinary humans they were all vampires. In total it seemed like there were around seven hundred vampires occupying the chamber. He created a death knight to guard the exit, flying to each of the three other exits he placed a death knight behind each to ensure the vampires didn't attempt to flee.

It was quite strange that the vampires of this world looked so human, lacking the red eyes and pale skin that denoted vampires in New World. He floated over the stone table using {Fly}, examining the three clan heads. The oldest looking vampire wore a set of light red gasses, garbed in a trench coat. He appeared thin and almost malnourished. From the description Lorraine gave Ainz he assumed the vampire was Raphael.

The youngest looking vampire wore a slightly open silk shirt, his hair was black and styled in a crew-cut, a small beard adorned his face. His pale almost sickly looking skin stood out among the more normal tones of the other vampires. This was most definitely Victor.

The final clan head stood out the most though, he wore no shirt showing off his bulging muscles. He had light blonde hair with a clean-shaven face, his fangs were fully extended unlike the other two. Adam the most aggressive of the clan heads...

Ainz dispelled {Perfect Unknowable} as he floated above the central stone table, the room filled with noises of shock and surprise. Ainz smirked lightly as the clan heads leaped from their seats in shock.

"I am the sorcerer-king, Ainz Ooal Gown! I give you this chance, bow before me and swear your undying loyalty to my grand name! If you do, I promise you prosperity the likes of which you have never known. Refuse and steel yourself for death." Ainz proclaimed before the hundreds of vampires.

* * *

Adam knew he wasn't the smartest of vampires, he had gained his position as clan head due to his strength. He had always been naturally gifted with unusual strength, even before becoming a vampire he had been able to bend iron. After his transformation he found he could shatter steel, thus he had focused his magical training on furthering his natural abilities.

He had created a technique known as stone armor after making a contract with a potent earth spirit, his armor made him famous among other vampires. The magic that formed his earthen armor made it harder than steel and allowed him to shape the stone around his hands into devastating melee weapons. He had never encountered a form of armor that could survive a strike from his stone encased fist.

He was shocked when a skeleton of all things appeared above them and demanded their subservience, thus he did the only thing he could do. As both Raphael and Victor were trying to think of a response, he acted.

"I have a better idea, go to hell!" Adam roared as stone rose up around him forming his armor, confidence flowed through his body as he created a burst of air to launch himself towards the haughty skeleton. He raised his right fist, forming a hammer shape intending to bludgeon the skeletal figure. Focusing he encased his fist in flame, as he neared the floating skeleton he felt confident. He would crush this arrogant fool and further cement his place among the clan heads.

It should have been a simple matter, Adam would crush the skeleton. Yet the skeleton did something that should have been impossible, it caught his fist. No matter how he struggled the skeletons grip was beyond his strength to break, using his other fist he attempted to crush the hand gripping him. Yet the grip did not loosen, several knives and swords flew from the crowd below as his clan attempted to assist him. Rock tore from the ceiling to collide with the skeletal figure but it was reminiscent of the ocean breaking against the shore, rocks collided, blades met their mark but the figure remained unmoved by the onslaught of magic.

Instead, the creatures burning gaze ignored Adam in favor of his struggling clan, it raised its unoccupied hand in the direction of his clansman. He could feel it in his bones, his clan was about to be destroyed, he screamed and roared thrashing violently against the steely grip, alas it was in vain...

"Widen triplicate magic, {Napalm}" The skeletal being spoke, and screams filled the air. Three massive pillars of flame encircled Adams clan as all one hundred fifty were burned from this world, all his hard work wiped away like nothing. Screaming in rage he clawed, crushed, bit ripping stone from the walls and ceiling, all for not...

The skeleton laughed at Adam's struggles, throwing him to the ground at great speed. Despite his attempts to slow the impact, he felt his armor shatter as he crashed through the stone table, the elders backing away from the crater his broken body had made. He felt his ribs shatter, vertebrae cracking as agony filled his mind. Existence was agony, so blinded by the pain he failed to notice the skeleton pointing at him.

"{Hell flame}" The skeletons voice echoed through the chamber, blinded by agony Adam failed to see the tiny black flame. He felt it though, he felt it as the black flame tore through his body, ripping into his very soul. Adam screamed out in agony, as his very soul burned away.

* * *

Ainz smirked as he heard several vampires cry out in fear as the death knights moved through the doors to block the exits. He turned back to gaze at the two remaining clan heads, they seemed frozen by indecision. They had seen their comrade and his clan slain and they now feared to move against him lest they meet the same fate.

"Maybe I wasn't clear, kneel!" Ainz ordered as he silently activated his undead domination skill, taking control of the oldest vampire. Raphael fell to his knee, Nines following suit. The rest of the vampires seemed frozen in shock as the oldest and most powerful of their number knelt before him, yet as they shook themselves from their shock and fear they to fell to their knees.

"Glory to Ainz Ooal Gown," Raphael proclaimed.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here we go!

Ainz felt disappointed, though the emotion wasn't strong enough to be suppressed it still left him a bit morose. He contemplated why these emotions had arisen as they rode back to the school. Guiche had yet again fallen asleep and Colbert was currently holding the reigns, which left Ainz with little in the way of distractions.

Overall things had technically gone well on their trip to the city, he had cemented Guiches admiration and word of his runic blade was sure to reach his father's ears. He had dominated a group of vampires that were a treasure trove of information. Colbert had gotten the necessary ingredients for the ritual, there was a possibility of him returning home. Yet despite this, his spirits could not be lifted…

The problem Ainz mused was that everything had gone well, too well. After his discussion with Lorraine, he had been confident the vampires lacked the means to harm him. Though that's not to say he hadn't set up some contingency plans, in case the elder vampires had a hidden trump card.

Lorraine had explained the basic layout of the mausoleum and after some light reconnaissance, Ainz had created a contingency that he was rather proud of. He had left a group of elder liches on the surface, had he felt threatened he would mentally command the elder Liches to create a large explosion to collapse the central chamber. In the destruction Ainz would fly to the ceiling and reactivate {perfect unknowable} from there he would have attempted to teleport out.

Of course, if his teleportation was blocked he would have flown above the fighting death knights and vampires towards the exits. Failing that he had a few other backup plans but many of them would cost one-time use items and he had no wish to expend such valuable resources unless he had to.

Yet as so often seemed to happen with his backup plans it was unnecessary. The elder vampires were as weak as his conversation with Lorraine had led him to believe. He was looking forward to future interactions with the elder vampires, their ancient knowledge would be incredibly useful to him. Hopefully, they could give a less...Bias historical report, perhaps they even knew why the elves were so driven to hold the holy lands.

Pushing aside the wild thoughts Ainz contemplated his plans for the vampiric race, he had left the group of elder liches to direct them. They were currently moving to a location closer to the school grounds, an abandoned graveyard that had been forgotten by time. While Ainz could teleport back between the mausoleum at will it would be beneficial for the vampires to be closer allowing them to reach him more swiftly.

This world seemed to lack any spells like {Message}, meaning communication over long distances was far more difficult for the inhabitants of this world. While Ainz could always use {message} to reach them they had no means to reach him in an emergency. While the liches would be of great help, the fact remained being closer would save quite a bit of unnecessary effort.

He had given specific orders to the vampires that they were not to harm any humans and await his orders. He had no doubt there would be some rebellion among the vampires but with an elder under his undead domination effect, he doubted they would cause any large problems. He had already given the order to the elder to kill any who refused to follow the herd. It would take a few days for the vampires to fully settle into their new location, only after they did so would Ainz solve their nutritional problems.

With a small smirk, Ainz refocused on the world around him looking out the window to the forest surrounding the roads, it was approaching midday. The cloud cover gave the world a gloomy aspect, it seemed it would begin to rain soon. Ainz wondered if he should offer to change the weather to ensure they weren't delayed... Ultimately he concluded that such an action would draw too much attention if the weather truly got too rough he would pull Colbert from the front of the cart and allow the horse to guide the carriage.

With a tired sigh, Ainz wondered what his precious children were up to in his absence...

* * *

Demiurge could feel a throbbing in the back of his skull as he watched Albedo traipse throughout their masters grand office. Though she was incredibly careful as she moved their master's items it was clear from the slight shaking of her palms that she was not in a good state of mind. She had been quite panicked when their lord failed to make contact after the official discussion with the Roble Holy Kingdom. At first, Demiurge had felt himself panicking as well before he saw through the first layer of his ingenious master's plan.

He had hoped Albedos own intelligence would have led her to similar conclusions alas it appeared her love for the supreme one outweighed her analytical abilities. If three days hadn't been enough time then it was likely she would never reach the logical conclusion on her own...

"Enough." Demiurge asserted, causing Albedo to cease her rummaging. She straightened her back to look Demiurge in the eyes annoyed by his interruption.

"You have something to say? I told you there was no need to accompany me, I'm perfectly capable of searching for clues without your assistance." Albedo spoke with an edge of cynicism. She was still upset Demiurge had prevented her from raising all Nazaricks forces to find their master. She had nearly drawn her weapon on him when he had first stayed her hand and her glare had become a common sight the past days.

"Albedo, I would like to apologize for not explaining the situation sooner but I had hoped you'd see the truth on your own." Demiurge explained a genuinely apologetic tone coloring his voice.

"...And what do you believe I have missed? Our master is gone! There is no trace of his presence and you refuse to allow us to move against the last people he spoke to. So please tell me what I have missed." Albedo growled. Anger, no rage burning in her eyes. Yet despite her flair of emotion, she maintained her respectful tone, as was proper when within their master's study.

"Albedo the group from the Roble kingdom was nothing more than stragglers begging for aid, do you truly believe such base knaves have anything to do with our master's disappearance? Even more before our liege supposed disappearance, we were discussing plans of what to do in his absence no?" Demiurge said as he moved to straighten some papers on his masters' desk. Albedo hadn't properly realigned them after searching through them, a clear sign of her less than stellar state of mind.

"What is your point? We had a plan in place to allow for our master's absence, I fail to see how that relates to our current situation." As Albedo spoke the rage cooled slightly, an edge of curiosity entering her voice. She was clearly interested in whatever explanation Demiurge had created.

"Isn't it obvious? The plan was a good one but fundamentally flawed as we would know his location and actions. By disappearing entirely and under such mysterious circumstances our master has given us a far more genuine test. Think about it, he is alive and unharmed according to the records in the throne room, yet we can't reach him. I believe he is intentionally blocking our attempts to reach him, to better facilitate this test." Demiurge revealed the summation of his master's grand plans with a mocking smile.

Despite his hours of pondering he was still only able to peer this far into his master's plans. He had no idea what actions his master was currently taking, nor where he had gone. The disappearance while an ingenious way to test them was still incredibly stressful, on top of that he felt slightly ashamed. Their master had so carefully set up this test yet Albedo had failed to understand it. Was that not in of itself a sign of failure?

"Albedo think about it, he mysteriously disappears right after we plan for such an eventuality. That was meant to be our clue, yet you've let your emotions blind you." Demiurge lightly reprimanded her as he pushed aside his doubts. If they had failed their master would reprimand them on his return.

"So you believe this to be part of some form of test?" Albedo queried, obviously pondering the idea. the scrunching of her brow denoted the confusion such an idea brought her.

"Of course it is! Even now we are but puppets dancing on our glorious master's strings! Yet instead of working hard to ensure his grand kingdom is prepared for his return you've wasted time searching for clues he assumed you wouldn't need. He wanted to see how we would behave should he disappear without warning. Just as he intended to test our plans for his disappearance he wished to test if we could put those plans in motion without the comfort of knowing his exact location. It's the only logical explanation," Demiurge explained his master's marvelous foresight and planning to albedo.

"...I...I see the wisdom in your words Demiurge, should I call off the search parties?" Albedos eyes seemed to ignite with understanding at Demiurges explanation. Demiurge was a bit pleased with her return to her senses but was frustrated by her reply.

"Of course not, we must treat this as if our master has truly disappeared with the knowledge this is all part of his grand scheme. We should redouble our efforts so he is not disappointed on his return. Besides isn't it the duty of a good wife to maintain the house while her husbands gone?" Demiurge smirked as he spoke the lines he knew would allow Albedo to redouble her focus on her assigned task.

With a bounce in her step, Albedo left the office. With a small smile, Demiurge followed her assured that his master would not return to a burned kingdom due to his subordinates ineptitude. He couldn't help but wonder if any of the other guardians truly comprehended their master's intellect or if he was the only one able to peer into the fathomless pool that was his master's plans.

* * *

As they approached the school gates Ainz had the inexplicable urge to sneeze...Considering his lack of nasal passages it was a bizarre urge, he couldn't help but remember one of his friends saying something about sneezing when others spoke of them...Was it something from mythology? Or a trope from animation? For the life of him he couldn't remember where the statement came from, nor even which of his old friends explained it...Touch me? No, Bukubukuchagama? Maybe…

Ainz was interrupted from his musings by a loud bang, the cart pulling to a sudden stop. Glancing out the window the world outside was painted in a light golden hue, Outside the cart a bizarre sight greeted him, there was a giant earthen golem striking the side of the school building, at odds with the light airy atmosphere the afternoon light provided. Guiche had startled from his rest and had leaped from the carriage, sighing to himself Ainz moved to follow suit.

It was quite an odd sight, the golem while large wasn't overly well defined, it reminded him of an uglier version of Nishikienrai. As if the creator had no interest in creating a more beautiful construct, saying that Ainz own experiences with the Avatara had taught him the difficulty that came with producing a three-dimensional work of art.

Still, Ainz felt the creator of the golem could have at least smoothed out some of its features better, remove the clumps of grass and plant life, it didn't seem like a matter of lacking artistic skills rather than a lack of effort. A small figure stood atop the earthen golem, seemingly the one controlling it, perhaps it's creator considering what he knew of golems in this world.

"Your majesty this is the work of a triangle class mage, I believe it may even be Fouquet the crumbling earth, I must ask you to stand back." Colbert interrupted Ainz internal critiques, for a moment he felt slightly annoyed but looking at it logically it was the correct statement.

Endangering a foreign dignitary would be very improper still, the fact remained the golem before them didn't seem overly powerful...Then again from the book he had been reading triangle class was considered impressive, now the question, should he interfere?

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Guiche pull his runic blade free as Colbert raised his wand. A devious idea occurred to him, with a small smirk he cast a silent {Time Stop} and {Fly} Landing atop the golem he moved to examine the figure. It appeared to be a person of short stature, a dark wand clenched in its left fist. Examining it closely the figure appeared to be female though it was a bit hard to tell through her layered clothes.

She looked vaguely familiar, yet for the life of him, Ainz couldn't recall where he had seen her before. Ignoring this familiarity he floated down the side of the golem casting a delay enhance magic {Shock wave} on its side. Floating back to the ground he resumed his position behind Guiche and the professor just as the time stop came to an end.

* * *

The earth shook suddenly beneath Guiches feet, the massive golem seemingly crumpled before an invisible force. It was almost comical as it toppled to the ground. The figure leaped from atop the golem hitting the ground in a roll, as the figure rose to her feet Colbert cast flame barrier a spell that ignited the ground to make a wall of flames.

The figure rose to its feet sending a boulder towards Guiche and the professor, slightly annoyed he rushed forward slicing through the rock, using magic to redirect the disparate chunks into the ground. He then slammed his blade into the ground casting a spell to raise eight valkyries. He ordered six of them to stand around the wall of flames to further block the thieves escape. He had the remaining two charge through the wall of flames, several loud bangs echoed from the circle of flame.

Fouquet most likely tiring of the two valkyries used a stone pillar to launch herself over the flames and Valkyries towards the forest. Her landing was interrupted by a loud explosion, emerging from behind the tree line was the pink-haired girl Louise, wand held high.

The thief rose to her feet angered at her escape being cut off, Guiche rushed forward Valkyries moving to surround her. He brought his sword down to strike the thief but she was faster bringing up a steel dagger to redirect his strike. Luckily his training had taught him the basics of not over-committing to strike thus he was able to dodge the thieves follow up attack.

Grimacing he glared at Fouquet... A plan forming in his mind, he reached his free hand out as if to grip the thief's wand arm. Fouquout responded by slashing towards Guiche outstretched hand, just as he hoped. swinging his sword into a hard slash he saw the shock in the thieves eyes that reflected his own.

There was a sound, a thunk of something hitting the ground. A feminine scream came from Fouquet, as a metallic scent filled the air. The thief collapsed to the ground gripping the stump that used to be connected to her hand.

* * *

Louise felt sick to her stomach, she was sat next to Guiche outside the headmaster's office. The sorcerer-king had entered the office with Colbert to explain the situation to the headmaster. The thief had been taken to the infirmary alongside her severed hand. She had never seen so much blood, her mother's mantra repeated in her mind over and over. She could not disgrace herself by becoming sick, still, the shock on the thief's face would be burned into her eyes forever.

Pushing aside the sickening memories she couldn't help but be surprised the famous thief was a woman. All the rumors she'd heard painted the thief as a man, was it any wonder catching her had been so hard when they weren't even looking in the right gender. She also couldn't help the excitement building in her chest, Guiche had bested a triangle class mage in combat! She had helped! She had made the situation better with her magic, it may not have been a fireball like she wanted but it'd worked!

She now had something to prove to her mother she could succeed as a mage! That she didn't need to abandon her schooling! Despite the grim situation, she couldn't help the smile that formed. She felt somewhat lucky, she had been staring at the damned letter to her mother, trying for the twentieth time to give some explanation that would lessen her mother's attempts to pull her from school after her most recent failure.

Growing sick of her struggles she'd taken a walk to clear her mind, only to feel the earth quake and hear a deafening crash. She'd rushed to source and found Guiche's Valkyries fighting a figure trapped in a ring of fire. It had been a snap decision to block the figures escape route with her explosion but one that had worked wonderfully.

Glancing to her side she broke from her reverie as she noted Guiches pale countenance, he looked like he was going to become ill. Louise could understand though, she had some distance from the bloody affair but he had been the perpetrator. If memory served her soldiers often became temporarily ill after first drawing blood, perhaps that's what afflicted Guiche at this moment?

Still, after he recovered he was bound to be quite pleased with himself, he had bested a triangle class mage in combat, and not just any triangle class but a famous thief at that. Even with assistance, it would be a victory he could brag about, it would no doubt give a boost to his family's status. Still looking at his sick expression she couldn't help but wonder what thoughts troubled him at this moment. Did he regret his involvement or simply wish he hadn't needed to harm the thief so badly?

More than any of that though Louise felt her eyes being drawn towards the large oaken door, wondering what words were being exchanged between the headmaster and the sorcerer-king.

* * *

"Wait you store incredibly powerful magical artifacts in your most prominent magical school, that specifically caters to powerful and rich nobles?" Ainz felt a headache forming as both the headmaster and Colbert stared at him in confusion. They had explained Fouquet was most likely after the staff of destruction, an incredibly potent magical artifact stored within the school's vault.

"Yes, this building has several layers of magical reinforcement and security measures. Thus it is the best place to store such objects." the headmaster explained confusion coloring his voice. Clearly not understanding why the sorcerer-king was perplexed by this idea.

"If this place is so well defended why are you teaching students here?! Surely it would be safer to not have children throwing spells around a building storing incredibly powerful artifacts." Ainz continued trying to get the headmaster to understand his problems with their system

"The buildings defenses ensure the students won't overly damage the school grounds." The professor justified calmly.

"But the building is also a massive target, what is stopping someone from taking one of these powerful influential children hostages and demanding you give over the artifacts? That's ignoring the fact by having these artifacts here you paint a target on the students as they can be caught in the crossfire of a robbery... Why not hide the artifacts in some secretive vault and have the children far away from it so there's no risk of them being targeted and injured? Why risk the children's and artifacts safety in such a bizarre way? So what possible benefits are there to having your countries most important children come to a place that's sure to attract powerful criminals?" Ainz continued his questioning and was greeted by silence.

Both the headmaster and Colbert glanced between one another for a reasonable answer to the king's speech...

* * *

Guiche felt sick, cold and hot all at the same time. He should be proud, he'd claimed victory against a famous thief! Fouquet the crumbling earth! Yet despite his victory, he didn't feel excited, or ecstatic instead his stomach was unsettled and he felt numb.

He had drawn blood, attained victory, why was he so numb. Glancing over he noted Louise didn't seem as disturbed by the battle, was he overreacting? Or was it simply due to her not directly drawing blood? He couldn't help but wonder why the sorcerer-king hadn't simply dealt with the thief himself, surely it would be child's play to him.

Perhaps he was being ridiculous, maybe the golem collapsed due to some other unforeseen force. Perhaps Louise had launched another explosion and he had simply missed it, or Colbert secretly had the ability to use powerful wind magic. Yet he couldn't help but doubt those possibilities, the blast that tore through the golem hadn't been the work of any wind magic he could remember, it also lacked the explosive nature of Louise's magic. Yet that left another question burning through his mind, if the sorcerer king had dealt with the golem just how powerful was he? To deal with a triangle class golem of such size without moving should have been impossible...

"Come in," the kind voice of Colbert broke Guiche from his musings, rising from his seat Guiche followed behind Louise as they entered the headmaster's well-furnished office. The sorcerer-king stood to the side of the room seeming content to allow the headmaster to take the lead in the coming talk.

"First things first, I would like to personally thank each of you for your dedication and work in defeating Fouquet the crumbling earth. It is no small thing to capture a famous thief and you will be awarded accordingly. The princess will be arriving for the spring familiar exhibition in two weeks. Upon her arrival she will personally present each of you with a medal of honor." The headmaster explained with a kind smile, seemingly pleased by their rising spirits.

"Now, onto more...Complicated issues, after discussing it with the sorcerer-king we've agreed upon a course of action. It would be rather poor for our country's image if foreign royalty bore witness to unscrupulous elements of our society, thus we've spoken on it and come up with a story that won't muddle the sorcerer-king with our counties matters and won't make our country look bad in the public eye. What officially happened is Guiche was speaking with professor Colbert when they heard a loud bang, on the way there they met up with Louise and together you took down Fouquet. The sorcerer-king, in contrast, was out visiting the royal capital and was not around for the attempted theft. I hope that is satisfactory?" The headmaster explained with a layer of authority in his voice making it clear this wasn't simply a request.

Guiche felt the urge to protest he wished to air his suspicions that the sorcerer king was responsible for the golems fall but out of the corner of his eye, he saw the sorcerer-king nod. If he truly felt it best for his help and presence to not be noted then would it be right to go against his wishes? With a sigh, Guiche nodded his assent despite the doubts in his heart.

* * *

Ainz was quite pleased with himself, he had set Guiche up to be in the spotlight and now it was inevitable he would share where he had gotten the runic blade. Add on to that the favor he would no doubt win with the queen for pretending this second diplomatic incident wasn't on record and he was practically ecstatic! Alas, the emotion had grown too strong and was suppressed, sighing internally he continued his leisurely stroll towards his chamber.

"Wait...Your majesty," A young male voice interrupted his annoyance at the emotional suppression, he turned to find Guiche sprinting to catch up with him. As he drew close, he fell into a quick bow.

"Ah Guiche I thought you would be off resting after your battle, or perhaps you should be celebrating your victory?" Ainz smiled lightly at the youth, who blushed slightly at his playful comment.

"I intend to rest after the trying battle your majesty, but I wanted to thank you first. Without your training, I would have surely lost today." Guiche explained with a small grin, giving another bow in thanks.

"There is no need to thank me Guiche, and didn't I tell you to address me as Ainz when we aren't in public?" Ainz reprimanded with a small chuckle as seemed to struggle to formulate a reply.

"Ah...I...Of course your...Of course Ainz, I meant no disrespect," Guiche stammered slightly, Ainz noted Guiches slightly haggard appearance. Despite washing the blood off the youth still seemed off, his skin a sickly pale and eyes slightly sunken in.

"Guiche are you feeling alright? You seem pale..." Ainz questioned as he wondered if the boy had gotten sick during their trip, but he could have sworn the boy looked fine on their cart ride back to the school. Perhaps he had gotten this worlds variant of the common cold? He remembered one of his allies mentioning how fast the cold could spread...

"It's nothing your...Ainz I checked in with the infirmary it's apparently not uncommon for one to feel ill after drawing blood for the first time. Thank you for your concern." Guiche interrupted his pondering, it sounded somewhat like the symptoms of shock.

"I see then, while I appreciate your thanks I believe it would be best for you to go and rest. Good evening Guiche" Ainz concluding the youth wouldn't break off the conversation regardless of how ill he felt decided to do it for him. Turning he continued his leisurely stroll towards his chambers, definitely not putting off reading those important and boring books...

"Wait, your majesty, I had a question, if you'd allow me to be so bold..." Guiche trailed off as Ainz turned back to him, so the youth had followed him to do more than offer thanks. He couldn't help but wonder what Guiche wanted, he couldn't think of anything that would draw the boy's curiosity.

"Of course, ask away," Ainz forced a kind tone into his voice to comfort the nervous teenager.

"Did...Were you the one that destroyed the golem?" Guiche asked determination filling his gaze, Ainz felt a sweat-drop forming on his head. He had been prepared for just about any question, he simply hadn't expected it to be so simple nor for the youth to be so serious about such a thing.

"A golem? I see I believe it may have just been a case of poor craftsmanship, the creation was not well put together. Perhaps a gentle breeze knocked it aside." Ainz attempted to jest to lighten the mood but Guiches determined stare remained in place though his eyebrows seemed to twitch. That was a good sign, wasn't it? Twitching facial muscles well could mean the youth was resisting the urge to laugh, Ainz internally celebrated at this modicum of success.

"Please do not jest, your majesty," Guiche pleaded, leaving Ainz confused. The way the youth was focused on this seemed bizarre, perhaps he should lie? Then again he couldn't imagine why it would matter nor could he conceive a scenario where the information would come back to haunt him. Even if Guiche told someone else and it for some reason mattered he could simply deny it then.

"Yes Guiche it was a simple matter, why do you ask?" Ainz wondered aloud as Guiches eyes seemed to sparkle in admiration.

"Thank you, for everything your majesty. Have a good evening." Guiche bowed yet again before turning to leave, Ainz felt a headache forming in his skull. It was a familiar headache though, one that often formed when he had no comprehension of the interaction that had just taken place. Usually it only occurred when interacting with his subordinates, and they came to some conclusion he hadn't intended. Resisting the urge to rub his forehead he abandoned his walk and teleported back to his room.

Unbeknownst to both parties a third pink-haired figure emerged from behind a hanging Bannister and marched off to her room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys sorry for the delay on this chapter but I got distracted. I'm going to try and maintain a once every two weeks from here on out. If you feel the backup plan ainz talks about here doesn't fit the chapter that's on me, it was originally part of the previous chapter but I didn't like how it fit so I cut it. I kind of forgot I needed to mention as in my head he already had one sorry! I wouldn't have added here but alot of people were wondering why ainz was so brazen in his interactions with the vampires and I hope this clears things up!
> 
> If anyone is wondering why Fouquet didn't make her move when she did in cannon. There is a logical reason that will be covered later on but I don't want to spoil it. Ive also most likely screwed up when the familiar exhibition is meant to take place but...I don't know the timeline that well, and I don't intend to follow it in any meaningful way. I'm sorry if that upsets/annoys anyone but I'm trying to write a good story and for that some events need to be jumbled and even removed where they no longer fit. So apologies if that upsets you, please Read review and enjoy.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All right guys I made up the entire ritual segment cause I couldn't find any info on it and I figured well I'll make something else that sounds plausible...We know rituals were a thing in Yggdrasil and in new world but we never get first hand experience and the only ritual I knew of from foz involved the summoning ritual. So I got creative sorry! Review and let me know what you think!

**Sorry for the delay guys real life all that nonsense please enjoy!**

Guiche awoke to the light shining through his window, still feeling slightly sick after yesterday's...Activities. Forcing himself from his bed he quickly changed into the school uniform, cinching the runic blade to his side he paused in front of his mirror. His eyes had bags under them, denoting his restless sleep. Part of him wished to curl back under the blankets and sleep until he felt better. Alas, Mrs. Chevreuse had mostly recovered with the aid of magic and thus classes were to resume their normal schedules.

Guiche sighed internally feeling slightly bad about wishing the professor was still injured, pushing aside that thought he reached down yanking the runic blade from its sheath. He saw reflected on the blade, his stare felt slightly unnerving. He had used this glorious weapon, he had maimed another mage, he had drawn blood. He was sickened, he was invigorated, he was proud, he was ashamed, shaking his head to clear his mind. He quickly returned the sword to its sheath and walked to the door, stopping as he noticed a piece of parchment on the ground.

Picking it up he began to read the familiar flowing script, it was a message from Montmorency asking him to meet her for lunch. The sick feeling in his stomach was quickly subsumed with the fluttering of butterflies. Was she finally ready to accept his apology? Had his gift of earrings been enough for her to forgive him? Despite his lack of sleep, he felt a weight lift from his shoulders, with a small smile he left his room determined to face the morning.

* * *

Ainz felt barely restrained energy coursing through his marrow, even after it was suppressed he still was left in an airy mood. Even the intense reading session he had put in overnight wasn't enough to dampen his spirits. Colbert had informed him the ritual would be ready today! He finally had a chance to return home!

"Your majesty, I don't wish to offend you but it is important to remember that today is an experiment. I've adapted the ritual to the best of my abilities but this is untested magic, I had to redesign the ritual from the ground up to allow it to accept magic outside the familiar summoning spell. Add on to that the fact I had to rewrite the runic characters and I can't promise we will get the results we seek on our first attempt..." As Colbert spoke nervously, walking faster than he usually would to keep up with the sorcerer-king's long stride. The maids trailed behind them, their struggle made tougher by the need to also maintain a respectful distance.

Ainz finally noticed the professors difficulty, feeling slightly guilty over forcing the professor to keep up with him. He felt tempted to apologize for allowing his excitement to get the better of him but also knew it would be improper for a king to apologize for such a minor event. Sighing internally he simply slowed his walk to better accommodate the professors shorter stride. The professor and maids both seemed relieved by this change in pace, only adding to Ainz feeling of guilt.

Ainz couldn't help but remember his old job, the nerves that came about before making a presentation. The fear of forgetting important information, or getting some data wrong and being punished by the higher brass. No doubt Colbert was experiencing a similar feeling at the prospect of presenting his hard work to Ainz. Perhaps it was even worse for Colbert though, all Ainz had to worry about was his own failures, here Colbert had to worry about failings that may well not be his own.

"Colbert you have worked tirelessly on this project since my...Unfortunate arrival here, rest assured I won't be overly disappointed if we don't achieve success in our first attempt. While I wish to return to my kingdom, I will not hold you accountable should today's attempt fail. As long as we learn something from today's attempt I shall consider it to have been a worthy endeavor." Ainz reassured the distressed professor with a light smile, while he was in a rush to return to his kingdom, today was an experiment at its core and thus success was not guaranteed. Colbert didn't seem to know how to respond to his reassurances thus they fell into an amicable silence as they neared the courtyard.

The ritual had been set up in one of the schools multiple courtyards, the ground bore a large intricate circle. Inter-layered with runic symbols and patterns that only seemed vaguely familiar to Ainz. Lacking class levels in magical research and knowledge the circle's meaning and purpose were indecipherable to Ainz eyes. Still, Colbert seemed confident as he walked around the circle applying alchemical solutions at key points in the circle.

"It should be ready your majesty, all it requires now is a spell to activate it..." Colbert turned to him expectantly. Ainz felt a sweatdrop forming on the back of his head, it was time to see if the ritual would work with the {Gate} Spell. While he had assured the professor he had a good spell for the occasion there was no telling how the two foreign forms of magic would interact. If they interacted at all, of course, any failing on Ainz part could be shifted to the professor.

Pointedly ignoring the guilt he felt about shifting any blame to the professor that had worked so hard to assist him, he lifted his hand focusing on the center of the circle activating {Gate}. A black hemisphere formed in the center of the circle, much like his first attempt it sat lifelessly, unable to connect to the area he had commanded. The circle glowed, flashing different colors as the runic symbols floated from the earth, slowly circling the black hemisphere.

In the background Ainz heard Colbert gasp, Ainz couldn't help but wonder why? The rituals floating symbols didn't seem out of place to him, it reminded him a bit of the circle that formed when using magic arrow, or magical defensive spells. Even a few of the rituals Ainz could remember made use of floating magic circles and symbols. From what he could remember it was common artistic style, then again from what he could tell the magic common to this world seemed less flashy than that found in Yggdrasil and new world. Perhaps his magic was having a bizarre effect on the ritual? Pushing these thoughts aside Ainz refocused on the ongoing ritual.

There were five symbols in total, two of them glowed a dark blood red while the other three glowed an acidic green. The symbols seemed to slow as they drew closer to the black center, the green symbols flew into the hemisphere and Ainz felt the {gate} respond. It felt as if the spell were reaching for something only for it to be pushed back? It was such a strange feeling that Ainz nearly allowed the spell to fade, luckily he regained himself before the spell could falter. Next, the two red symbols flew into the center.

Ainz felt it again, energy arced from the {gate} dust and debris ripped from the ground as the spell seemed to roar with newfound power. He heard Colbert backing away but was far too absorbed in the spell to be concerned about the professor. Forcing more mana into the ritual he felt, for the briefest of seconds, a connection between worlds!

Alas something seemed to push back, it felt even stranger then the ritual, as if hundreds of overlapping spells all with the single focus of blocking his connection was pushing back against the ritual. There was a split second where the gate seemed to glow a deep red, then it exploded kicking up dust and stone. the flying stone could not harm Ainz and the professor had the foresight to take cover before the blast.

After the dust settled a large crater had replaced the circle, no trace of the professors work remained. Ainz heard coughing and turned to find the professor emerge from hiding, he seemed a bit fearful.

"Your majesty! My sincerest apologies I hadn't imagined the ritual would have such a catastrophic failure! I've never seen magic act in such a strange fashion." Colbert apologized swiftly as he discreetly searched Ainz for any sign of injury, luckily there were none he could see. Ainz seemed perfectly unharmed despite his proximity to the explosion.

"Colbert as I said as long as we learn something today it is not a failure and learn we have! For a brief moment the spell worked, I connected to my kingdom." Ainz couldn't help the happiness that leaked into his voice. They had failed but today had confirmed to him returning to his kingdom was possible, he simply needed to remain persistent.

"Really? I didn't notice any shift before the explosion..." The professor seemed incredibly interested yet also nervous, it took a moment for Ainz to parse out why the professor would be nervous.

"I see, you fear I may be mistaken, that my mind has shown me what I wanted to see rather than what was there. An understandable fear, but I felt the rituals effect on the spell. That's how I know it worked and also how I know the range isn't the problem, we need more power." Ainz Explained as he went over the information Colbert had told him if he remembered correctly the runic symbols represented power and reach, or length depending on how one examined them.

Of the symbols used two were for power while three were for range. With that knowledge, he had surmised the green symbols were the ones representing range while the red represented power. as he had originally thought his spell had the range but something was blocking its power, but that left the question of what?

The only thing he could think of was a world-class item suited to unbreakable sealing, as far as he knew no such world-class item existed in Yggdrasil. Even more, had it truly been a world-class item with a focus on sealing he should not have been able to pierce it without a world-class item focused on breaking or piercing was how absolute world-class items were set up, an absolute offense that could only be defeated by an absolute defense...

So whatever formed this seal was near the power of a world-class item but not as absolute? What had formed it? Even more why? Was there a valuable resource in this world? Like the prismatic ore mines in Yggdrasil? If that was the case why did this world seem to lack truly powerful magical items? Perhaps the older vampires would know?

"Your majesty...If the range is not the problem I will need to fully redesign this ritual...How much power do you feel we'll need?" Colbert nervously interrupted Ainz theory crafting. Refocusing on the professor Ainz considered the question, three runic symbols had been enough to offer him the briefest of connections. To take that to something usable he suspected would take far more than the two extra symbols the ritual could currently support. Searching through his memories the largest rituals he read about apparently comprised of twelve symbols, yet Ainz doubted doubling the symbols would be nearly enough.

"I believe thirty symbols should be enough to ensure we can not only create the connection but also maintain it. Less than that and I'd fear the connection breaking." Ainz chose the number, not due to some significance but instead because he believed overkill would be better in this case then being sparing with the size of the ritual.

He figured in the worst-case scenario they made the ritual to powerful and wasted some materials and mana to return him home, and if the ritual still wasn't strong enough they won't have wasted time on lesser efforts. What was it said? There was no such thing as overkill? Or was that Lord touch me? Both could be so excessive at times...

"Your majesty! That's...Not feasible, even the largest ritual I know of historically only used fifteen runic symbols. Even ignoring the material cost the sheer amount of will power required isn't plausible, even with a large number of powerful mages working in tandem. I understand your strength but what you suggest...Simply isn't possible." Colbert explained in shock over Ainz suggestion, seemingly also afraid of disappointing.

Ainz couldn't help but be slightly surprised he figured the material cost would be the largest obstacle but the professor seemed more worried about will power... from his observations he had come to the conclusion the will power mages used was equivalent to his mana. Thinking back to the ritual he had spent slightly more mana then he would usually have needed to on the gate spell but not to an unreasonable degree.

Even if the larger ritual required a thousand times the mana this one had it would still be well within his abilities. Even more, if the ritual did somehow surpass his mana reserves he could simply produce a large group of undead magic casters to assist him... Then again the people of this world didn't seem to have any means to measure the magical potential of those around them, at least none of his research suggested they had such capabilities.

Thus he was left with two ways to deal with the situation simply tell the professor to focus on creating the ritual and let him focus on the magical components. While tempting he knew just how slow work could become when a subordinate felt they were working on a doomed project. Instead, it would be a simple matter to assuage the professors worry about the mana cost of the ritual.

* * *

Colbert felt himself break out into a cold sweat as the sorcerer-king stood there silently gazing over the ritual after the failure Colbert had been ready for bereavement or insults. Common practices for displeased nobles and royalty what he had not been prepared was the kings seeming jovial tone at the discovery it had almost worked.

Honestly, it was quite refreshing to have a failure viewed in such a positive light, but he had been even less prepared for the sorcerer-kings next suggestion. A ritual of thirty runic symbols, the sheer size, and cost of such thing boggled the mind. The intricate circles and patterns required to interconnect the magical energy of thirty individual runes boggled the mind not even to mention the sheer cost and quality of the materials required. For such a high powered ritual, only the highest quality magical reagents would have the stability to handle that level of magical energy without breaking down.

All of that ignored the impossibility of gathering enough mages with high enough willpower to sustain the ritual to completion. Adding more mages to a ritual was a rare practice due to the sheer instability they introduced, as adding more mages added different forms of magical energy and keep the power flowing into the ritual consistent was nearly impossible.

The most mages that had ever taken part in a single ritual was six as far as he could remember. For a ritual the size, the sorcerer-king suggested would require at least twenty incredibly strong mages working in perfect tandem and even then the odds of succeeding with that many different sources of magic were astronomical.

"Colbert put this on, I believe it will help assuage your worries." The sorcerer-king interpreted Colbert's thoughts, in his skeletal hand now sat a small bracelet of polished silver with a dull blue sapphire. Feeling slightly confused Colbert took the jewelry in his outstretched hand, eyeing the bracelet now sat in his hands he didn't note anything particularly strange about the object. It was slightly larger than seemed normal for a bracelet but he suspected that was to allow it to pass over larger hand sizes, the real question was how he was going to fit it to his wrist.

Forcing down his trepidation he pulled the jewelry over his hands where it suddenly shrunk to fit perfectly around his wrist sending a jolt of surprise down his spine. Glancing up at the sorcerer-king Colbert felt surprised to see the king gesture with his hand, seemingly wanting him to look around.

Glancing at the area around them he didn't notice anything immediately amiss but his eyes were quickly drawn towards a slightly open doorway where he could just make out the figure of a student peeking into the secluded courtyard. The student must have only recently peeked through the door as he hadn't noticed them after the completion of the ritual.

Normally he would have been able to decipher which student it was but he was distracted by a blue aura that seemed to expand out from their eavesdropper. The aura was rather small seeming to drift in the air around the student mystically, Colbert had never seen anything quite like it. The student seemingly noticing the fact they had been caught jerked back slamming the door shut, no doubt fleeing the scene to avoid punishment. Looking down at the bracelet he noted something that had escaped him, floating around his personage was a blue aura.

"That bracelet is enchanted granting the wearer a similar effect to the spell {Mana Essence} while equipped you can view the mana...Will power of magic casters, it also gives an idea on the levels of magic the caster is capable of." The sorcerer-king explained the enchantment surrounding the jewelry he had asked Colbert to wear.

"Your Majesty, it's incredible! I've never seen such a thing...But where is your willpower?" Colbert couldn't help but notice the sorcerer-kings lack of mystical aura, considering the magical prowess the king had shown in their interactions it seemed very strange for him to lack an aura of his own.

"First things first Colbert you're a decent mage are you not? Thus your willpower mirrors this, my willpower isn't visible due to this ring. As long as I wear it I am protected from most forms of divination. Now observe..." With those words, the sorcerer-king raised his hand and slowly removed one of his many rings.

The world seemed to explode as the courtyard was coated in a massive blue aura that dwarfed Colbert's by a ridiculous amount. It not only filled the meager courtyard but reached into the heavens, it also seemed darker with untold depths of power. Even with no experience with determining strength, Colbert could feel it at the core of his being that he gazed into a peerless void of pure magical might.

Just as suddenly as Colbert's vision and senses were overwhelmed, the aura dissipated as the sorcerer-king returned the ring to his finger. He held out a skeletal hand expectantly and with trembling hands, Colbert removed the bracelet which changed size yet again to pass over his hand. He quickly relinquished the bracelet to the sorcerer-king.

"I hope there will be no more worries about the energy required to accomplish this ritual?" the sorcerer-king asked with a light tone, clearly amused by his previous concerns.

"Of course! I apologize for doubting your strength, your Majesty! I will begin work on the new ritual immediately." Colbert bowed deeply as he apologized, feeling foolish for doubting the strength of the skeletal king before him. The sorcerer-king simply nodded before walking off seemingly satisfied with his response.

Colbert stared down at the ritual mind stuck on what the sorcerer-king had shown him, perhaps it had been a ruse to inflate his strength. Alas, Colbert did not believe that to be the case, there would have been no reason for the king to want to fool Colbert about his might, especially not in such a complicated manner.

Up to this point, he suspected the king had been using his magic in such a casual manner to impress upon them his strength. Colbert now felt sure it was nothing more than a byproduct of the king truly being that powerful, to a being with the power the sorcerer-king had just shown him waving a hand to create a fortress was nothing more than a parlor trick.

Colbert had assumed the sorcerer-king hadn't interfered when the golem appeared because the king didn't wish to fight such a powerful magical construct. Now Colbert was sure the golem had simply been too far beneath the sorcerer-king for him to even consider raising his hand in assistance. This was awful and incredible...He needed to inform the queen of his recent discovery, he had to inform her of how they had been underestimating the king. She had to know just how dangerous of a being Louise had brought into their world.

Suppressing his panic Colbert took a deep breath and began his march towards the headmaster's office, for a no doubt stressful talk.

* * *

Guiche couldn't contain himself, he had ordered a few maids to bring lunch, a table and a set of chairs to a balcony overlooking an open field outside the school, the sight was quite enchanting. Not only did he hope to speak with Montmorency in private but he hoped the earrings he had gotten on his trip to the city would help to further cool her anger. He had managed to speak to her during their morning class and convinced her to meet him here during their lunch period.

He was getting nervous though, it had been nearly five minutes and she still hadn't made her appearance. Now he may have rushed here immediately as the lunch period started but he didn't feel it should have taken this long for her to arrive. He also didn't wish to sit down before she arrived as that would not only be improper of him but it would also stop him from pulling out her chair for her and offering her the earrings in the manner he wished to. Thus he stood waiting patiently for his love.

After what felt like an eternity but couldn't have been more than a few moments Montmorency appeared on the catwalk, her gaze had not lost its cold edge though a small smile pulled on her lips at the romantic setting he had prepared.

"My lady," With a deep-bow Guiche moved to pull back her seat allowing her to take her seat with a proper elegance, grinning lightly he moved around her side he took a knee offering the gorgeous golden earrings he acquired in the city to her in upturned palms. Her eyes seemed to warm as she lightly took them from his hands, a grin spreading across her face in full force.

"Guiche! Thank you! I love them..." With those airy words, she quickly removed the small sapphire earrings currently occupying her ears as she replaced them with his gift. Smiling to himself Guiche felt the urge to take his seat but remembered the sorcerer-kings words, about sacrificing something real for the sake of fun. This moment felt real, Montmorency felt real and he had almost thrown it away...

"Montmorency I want to apologize for what I have done, I swear upon my name and honor I will never dishonor you or another in such a way again." Swearing his oath he waited with bated breath for her response, this wasn't his first attempt to apologize but it was the first time he had staked his honor on it. Suddenly he felt two warm arms wrap around his shoulders, looking up he saw Montmorency smiling warmly as she lightly touched her lips to him in a sweet kiss.

"I forgive you" she smiled sweetly as she pulled him to his feet, they quickly took their seats and began to eat. She asked him questions about his trip to the city and he told her of it avoiding mentioning the sorcerer-king or Colbert. He asked her about classes and her family estates, their small talk was interrupted as a maid approached.

The maid had black hair and light gray eyes, in her hands, she carried a silver tray on which sat a teapot and two cups made of fine porcelain with artistic patterns decorating the sides. It took a moment but finally, guiche remembered where he had seen the maid before, it was the same maid he had nearly struck when he had been caught out by Montmorency. While he felt some guilt over the exchange apologizing to a maid was far beneath him thus he didn't comment on his familiarity.

"Lady Montmorency, I brought the tea as you requested." With those words, the maid placed the silver platter lightly on the table depositing the cups before them. She then lightly poured their drinks before bowing and backing away, no doubt waiting for them to complete their lunch so she could clean up their table. Guiche grinned as he lifted his cup lightly noting Montmorency lack of movement and strangely nervous stare.

"Is something wrong?" he wondered as Montmorency stared intensely at the tea gripped in his hands, she seemed almost conflicted.

"NO!... Nothings wrong, why would anything be wrong?" She exclaimed defensively, feeling slightly nervous guiche sighed and raised the cup to take a sip.

"Don't drink that!" She shouted, slapping the cup from Guiche's hands causing it to shatter on the stone beneath them. Pushing himself to his feet in shock he was left dumbfounded as he stared at Montmorency guilty expression. Guiche was about to question her strange behavior but was distracted by approaching footsteps. Rather swiftly a small pink-haired figure made herself known, none other then Louise though she appeared rather haggard coated in a light layer of sweat.

"...Do you have any idea how annoying it was to find you! By the founder, I've been looking for you since Lunch started! I wanted to... Why would you come up here of...Never mind, Guiche we need to talk after..." Louise expressed her annoyance through her panting breaths, pausing as her eyes landed on Montmorency teacup. With no hesitation she quickly snatched the cup downing the contents in a single gulp, clearly, the physical exertion of her search had left her quite thirsty.

Montmorency looked horrified as Louise sighed in relief, opening her eyes to reveal her now light pink pupils.

* * *

Ainz felt slightly relieved as he entered his room leaving the maids to stand in the hall. With a sigh he threw himself into his bed with a light grin, chuckling to himself all the while. He had not only managed to make it look like he knew what he was talking about during the ritual but he had ensured Colbert wouldn't lose hope in his work.

Had he still been a businessman and well...Alive this would be the point where Suzuki Satoru would grab a beer from his fridge, it was the simple things Ainz supposed he missed the most. Chuckling lightly at his musing Ainz pushed himself off the soft bed, he figured it was about time to check up on the vampires and how they were settling into their new home. At times like this, he missed the ability to delegate the task to his skilled subordinates hopefully his children would be ok in his absence...

Then again perhaps he should be more concerned for the state of the country on his return...Albedo seemed rather set on making that ridiculous statue and he couldn't imagine anything to say to get her to take it down after it was already erected. The warm feeling in his chest brought on by thinking of how his guardians were doing was quickly suppressed rolling his eyes in annoyance he activated {Gate} sending a quick {Message} ahead to inform them of his imminent arrival.

Stepping through the {Gate} he found himself in a small graveyard surrounding an ancient mausoleum. The central building was rather weathered, vines growing over and through the stonework. The graveyard surrounding the central mausoleum was far smaller than the one surrounding the great tomb of Nazerick though that was to be expected. He could sense a large group of undead deep below the earth, no doubt the vampires occupying the underground area he had told them to create but there were four more signatures far closer.

Glancing around he could make out a few shapes buried under mounds of dirt while a few others seemed to emerge from the small family tombs. From his mental connection, he knew they were the death knights he had created to assist the vampires and elder liches. They had been camouflaged to better guard the entrance to the mausoleum, a rather clever idea to help avoid detection. Though the odds of someone stumbling across this area by accident were astronomically low, considering its isolated location and lack of historical significance.

The stone doors were pushed open at his approach, two ghouls stood behind the doors as a form of security. Ghouls were a strange creature to Ainz they were mostly used by vampires as servants and guards as they gained powerful physical abilities from the process of ghoulification. The problem was that vampires were limited in the number of ghouls they could create and control which made the process seem less useful to Ainz.

His create undead skill had its limits but those were purely based on a daily cap and as long as he had corpses his numbers would grow in time. Contrarily vampires in this world seemed far more limited in their ability to grow their strength. Though it fell in line with many of his experiences and understanding of this world, here power was not a solid concept, growing stronger not a linear path. No gap in strength would make one immune to a knife to the back. So he supposed it only made sense creation of servitors would be fundamentally limited in the same way their strength was.

Passing by the servants he began his descent, flights upon flights of stairs interconnected with empty rooms, the design was meant to be overly complex to frustrate would-be invaders and the design was perfect for ambush spots. Though he hadn't had enough time to create undead to set up such traps, still he felt for the short time he had granted them, the work was rather impressive.

Perhaps he should order the vampires to create more ghouls to set up some preliminary defenses until he could create more undead? While they were limited in the numbers they could create it should still have been more than enough to reinforce their non-magical defenses. While he had yet to encounter any beings that could defeat the death knights with any ease it would be better to be safe than sorry.

Ainz halted his musings as he approached a massive door, the door was not the only of its kind within the maze of tunnels and dead ends but it was the only one with the carving of skeletal hands reaching upwards. This door led into a central hall where he was to meet the vampire leadership and make his proclamations over the vampiric clans. Two sarcophagi that stood on either side of the door opened revealing death knights who move to push the door open.

Behind the door stood a massive hall full of long tables and chairs with a stony balcony overlooking the area, atop the balcony sat the two remaining vampire lords. The room was packed with vampires as they all stared at him with nervous energy. Part of Ainz wondered how much of it was induced by hunger and how much was caused by their fear of him.

Ainz passed between two of the tables the eyes of the vampiric crowd following his movements, a mix of hunger and apprehension coloring there faces. It was clear they had followed his orders to not feed until his return. Now they waited with bated breath for his next command in hopes of food being provided.

Approaching the large balcony, noting the grooves that had been carved into the floor. These grooves ran from two drains by the door to just below the balcony where they met with a strange altar. Ainz had ordered this specific construction to be completed upon his return and was quite pleased to see the vampires hadn't failed him. Spirit magic that could shift the earth reminded him of Mares high-class druidic magic.

The altar was strange as several grooves were carved into its stone surface said carvings linked into the groves occupying the floor, but hanging from the balcony above it was a series of stone spikes hanging like a demented chandelier. Ainz reached into his inventory ignoring the few quiet gasps from the vampires around him.

From his inventory he pulled a large chalice, known as the lesser chalice of ever-flowing, it was a gacha shop item that had been quite irritating to Ainz. The chalice had been added in a special event known as crafters paradise, during the event several items that would only be useful to crafting focused characters appeared in the shop. Amanomahitotsu had been desperate to attain several of the items and had enlisted Ainz aid in playing the shop. While it had been an expensive endeavor he had been more than pleased to help his friend.

There were two versions of the chalice of ever-flowing the greater and the lesser, they were interesting in their functions, the lesser and greater chalice essentially shared the same ability. Both would endlessly recreate any liquid poured into them, this had the drawback of never being able to change the liquid put into them.

The difference between the two versions of the chalice was quite large, the lesser chalice could only recreate the liquid at five percent it's original potency. Despite this flaw the lesser chalice still had great use in crafting, using the chalice a skilled craftsman wouldn't risk losing a valuable liquid in his experimentation as he could test his creation with the liquid from the chalice, thus he would only use the full-powered liquid in recipes he knew would work.

The greater chalice contrarily recreated liquids poured into it with ninety percent potency, which made it the perfect tool for mass crafting. Amanomahitotsu had been desperate to attain it, which is how Ainz ended up with no less than twelve of the lesser chalices before finally gaining the greater chalice. He had been incredibly excited to present the greater chalice to Amanomahitotsu only to find he had gained it after his second roll and had become too absorbed in his crafting to inform Ainz.

As annoyed as he had been on that day he now looked back on it as one of the thousands of moments of what made the guild of Ainz Ooal Gown so precious to him. He had gifted his friend all the chalices which is how they had all become filled with some truly bizarre liquids, luckily the lesser chalice Ainz now held was full of the blood of a greater fire dragon.

Approaching the altar he pulled aside a few of the stone spikes turning the chalice upside down and closing the stone teeth around the bottom of the chalice. Stepping back blood flooded from the chalice, forming into a river that flowed along the groves in the floor. In Yggdrasil turning the chalice upside down would simply result in the liquid vanishing on contact with the ground but in this world, such restrictions were no more.

The scent of blood flooded the hall inciting a ruckus among the hungry vampires, stepping back Ainz watched as the vampires rushed towards the spouting chalice some had cups others simply took the blood into their cupped hands. A few dunked their heads into the floor grooves devouring the blood in a heated frenzy. Smirking to himself Ainz climbed the stairs up to the balcony to meet with the vampiric leadership, both the lords bowed before him in tune with the elder liches at their sides.

"Master, we've been awaiting your arrival." Raphael the elder vampire bowed deeply, Victor the younger clan head albeit uncomfortable followed suit. While the younger of the lords was struggling with the act of subservience but was unwilling to earn Ainz ire especially as his elder compatriot so quickly bent a knee. Of course, the recent death of the other clan head no doubt further dissuaded his rebellious urges.

There was another aspect to the vampire's behavior that Ainz hadn't picked up on and that was their respect. The vampires feared him, some even hated but all respected his raw power that had allowed him so easily decimate a clan head. Within their clan-based society strength was prized even more than age, which was why the clan heads had varied widely in age.

"You've done well on the construction, tell me have you done what I asked?" Ainz questioned with a raised brow, both vampires quickly scrambled to their feet leading him through a door behind their seating arrangement, beyond this door was a hall lined with further doors, they led him to the third one on the right. Beyond this door was a room full of cages, in these cages were many different birds in a variety of sizes and colors.

Unnoticed by either vampire lords or Ainz himself was the strange happening around the bloody altar. The vampires had continued to drink their fill yet a mysterious change was coming over a few of the vampires. So small it was unnoticeable without a careful inspection, but doubtlessly there. the vampires had all grown slightly paler as if something had sucked some of the colors from their very beings. Far more noticeable were the flecks of red slowly filling their irises.

in the center of the room sat a table with three stacks of paper, one held opened envelopes the other sheets upon sheets of paper and the third contained resealed envelopes. Sitting at the table were a group of three vampires sorting through these missives, all of them halted their work to stare at the intruding vampire lords and Ainz. They scrambled to bow mumbling quiet apologies under their breath.

"We have set up a system to capture and sort through all the mail leaving and entering the academy, master we have noticed an anomaly..." Raphael explained in a steely voice, Ainz felt his curiosity rise. He had set up this impromptu system in hopes of getting a spy network working, while he couldn't trust the judgment of the vampires as much as he could his guardians and servants he still felt they could accomplish this simple task.

While it would have been better to have the vampires capture the mail leaving the academy so he could personally search it for useful or relevant information he was well aware of his limits. Just the thought of reading through hundreds of different letters looking for scraps of information made his headache. Thus he had ordered the vampires to search out all mentions of him leaving or entering the academy, he couldn't help but wonder what they discovered. He tilted his head, a silent command for the vampire to continue its explanation.

"None of the mail leaving the academy has any mention of you and there are signs of the words being magically tampered with. We cannot determine the original content but we suspect the letters have had their mentions of your presence removed. The only exception we've found to this tampering were these two letters." With those words, Raphael reached into one of his sleeves his hand emerging with two open envelopes.

Taking them into his hands Ainz began to read, the first letter appeared to be from the headmaster Osmund meant for the Princess. The other was from Colbert addressed to a man by the name of Gregory. The headmaster's letter mentioned Colbert gaining a glimpse of the power he represented and warning her of the severe danger he represented. While disappointing it wasn't shocking to Ainz, the professor loyalty was to his country first, it only made sense he would report a possible danger to his superiors.

Still, with this information, Ainz would have to watch the professor more closely it was now clear where any information links were bound to come from. Still, that left him with the question who was altering the student's letters? Why? It seemed likely it was Osmund or someone of great influence but that left the question...Why? Why were they so desperate to keep his presence hidden?

Pushing aside the thought for later Ainz read over Colbert's letter, it contained several details about the ritual he was crafting, asking for assistance with the linework and ideas on how to improve the stability. It was all posed as a theoretical experiment though which was fascinating whoever this letter was meant for was clearly closer to a colleague rather than a trustworthy friend...

"This...This is perfect, I want you to intercept all letters going to this Gregory person from Colbert, tell me who among your vampires is most familiar with ritualistic and brimiric magic?" Ainz couldn't keep the evil smirk that so desperately wanted to coat his face.

**Author's Note:**

> So writing this my biggest issue was keeping Ainz from killing Louise, she's loud and obnoxious. She was very liable to be grasped heart by Ainz to test his strength. I finally came up with the idea of Colbert recognizing a threat and boxing Louise out of the conversation.


End file.
